Maximum Read
by StoriesAreMagic
Summary: Max and company have saved the world, but the world doesn't know much about it. Two girls and a box of books show up. They'll read about the flock's adventures for all the world to see. COMPLETE AU  Because of Nevermore, which is eternally awesome. I laughed, cried, cried some more, and lived and loved the ending.  DISCONTINUED
1. Meet the girls

AN: Hello! This is my first published fan fiction and I am excited! This first chapter may change when the last book comes out, depending on how much I like it (and whether or not there is a satisfying amount of Fax XD). The two girls are me and one of my friends; we are both crazy about Maximum Ride, I re-aged us to about fifteen so we would be more Max's age. Oh, and I included a little bit Eggy not because I like it, (personally I prefer Niggy), but because it's canon. Read, review and have fun!

Disclaimer: of Dis- and -claim-. Dis means negative. Claim means demand the rights to. Dis + claim = negative demanding of rights = me no own. Comprehendé?

Chapter 1

Max had done it. She had saved the world. Not only that, but she had united the flocks and gotten back into a relationship with Fang. Dylan wasn't a problem, as he had 'been with' Maya before the flocks even joined together.

It had been a few days and the flock and friends had been recovering and hiding out at the safe house in Arizona. After all, the whole world knew their story. Or at least thought they did. There were many parts of the story that had been left out.

Anyway, the flock and company (Max, Fang, Dylan, Maya, Iggy, Ella, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, Holden, Ratchet, Star, Katie, Total, Akila, and Dr. Martinez) were just hanging out and healing. Nudge had gone out to get the (fan) mail; the semi-human couples (Max and Fang, Dylan and Maya, Iggy and Ella) were sitting together talking and playing a lovey game; Gazzy, Holden, Ratchet, Katie and Star were play-fighting; and Angel, Dr. M, Total, and Akila were playing a board game.

"Look at this!" It was Nudge, bursting through the front door while dragging two girls with her.

"Nudge, what are you doing? You don't know if this is safe or not!" Max said, jumping to her feet in a fighting position.

"No, it's fine. They have a letter from Jeb, see?" Nudge said, thrusting the aforementioned letter up towards Max's face.

Max grabbed it and began to read it out loud. "'Dear flock and friends, I trust you are doing well and recovering nicely. Now the thing is, with everything that has happened, you haven't told the whole story. So, we arranged to have a memory scan made, mainly from Max's point of view,' Say what?"

The original flock and Dylan were trying to restrain their laughter; they knew what happened when Max was mad. The joined flock had no such qualms. Ratchet and Holden were rolling on the floor, Katie was crying, and Star and Maya were bent over choking on their laughs.

"Jeb will be in trouble when he gets here." Max said.

"Go easy on him, won't you Max?" Angel requested before she, Gazzy, and Nudge gave way to their laughter.

"It's funny, huh? Will it be as funny when we get to the parts in your point of view?" Max said hostiley.

"Wait, what?" Angel stopped laughing.

"Yeah, some of the other points of views include Fang,"

Fang blinked.

"Angel,"

"I changed my mind, go hard on him." Angel said.

"And," Max paused to choke back a sob, "Ari. How..."

"Did they get Ari's memories?" One of the girls Nudge had brought in spoke. Everyone turned to look at her, having temporarily forgot about them. The girl who had spoke looked about fourteen to sixteen. She had medium brown-carmel hair, brown eyes, and pink glasses.

"And you are?" Max said 'politely', in an icy-sharp tone.

"Oh, I'm Sam and this is Elle," the brown-haired girl said, gesturing to the other girl, who was about the same age and asian. 'Elle' nodded at the flock and smiled.

"Why are you here?" asked Max.

"Like the letter said, the world still doesn't know all of your story. So, Jeb sent us, a whole bunch of cameras and computers and etc, and the books here. We'll read them in front of the cameras, edit the videos, and put it on TV. That way people will know all about you," Sam explained brightly, "Isn't that cool?"

"No." Fang said.

"Actually, I think yes," Nudge spoke up, "I missed out on some of the stuff and I want to find out what happened. It'll be all the more interesting because we'll be hearing it from Max's point of view. Plus, I think the world and everyone has the right to know what was going on with us saving them. Am I right or am I right?"

"I agree with Nudge." Holden called out. "We hardly know anything about what happened."

"Me, too," said Iggy. Ella, of course, agreed with him.

Everyone began shouting out their wants to read. They got louder and louder, trying to drown out each other.

Max had enough. "QUIET!" Everyone shut up. "Thank you. Fine, we'll do it. But tell me one thing. Why did Jeb send you? You don't seem the most technologically advanced."

"Well, we are." 'Elle' piped up. 'Sam' poked her. "Fine, Sam is, I'm not." Elle said, grumbling.

"And there's another reason, isn't there?" Dr. M said looking at them intently.

Sam and Elle looked at each other. Then, simultaneously, they turned around, opened their wings and flew.


	2. Warning, Prolouge, and Chapter 1

Chapter 2

AN: Hi! Here's the second chappy, and for your information, I will be cutting out most swearwords. I want to be able to keep a K+ rating!

"Well, that explains it," Star said.

Gazzy gave a cheer. "Awesome!"

Sam and Elle flew in a circle, bouncing off the walls and ceiling, and landed back in front of everyone.

"See? Now can we read the books?" Sam said.

"Fine, let's read the books," Max said. Everyone cheered.

They all sat down on the couches. Max sat next to Fang on a love seat, Nudge, Star, and Kate sat on a large couch, and Iggy and Ella sat on the next loveseat. On the next couch sat Dr. M. keeping an eye on Iggy and Fang, with Total and Akila, Magnolia at her feet. Holden, Gazzy and Ratchet sat on the next couch, followed by Dylan and Maya on a loveseat. Angel sat on her own chair. Finally, Elle and Sam had a small couch next to Max.

"Should I read first?" Max asked. She picked up 'Max'.

"Actually, that's the fifth book." Elle said.

Max picked up 'Angel'.

"And that's the seveth. The first one is 'The Angel Experiment'." Sam explained.

"Oh!" Angel said softly. Max noticed.

"Sam, Elle, would you two mind scooching your couch over a little?" They obliged. "Angie, come here." The seven-year-old pushed her chair next to Max and snuggled in close. Max picked up the book and began.

**Maximum Ride The Angel Experiment**

**Warning**

**If you dare to read this story,**

"Well, that's ominous." Iggy said.

"Shh!" Max said.

**You become part of the experiment.**

"Well, that's funny, I don't feel any wings." Ella said. Iggy laughed.

**I know that sounds a little mysterious-**

"A little?" Iggy asked.

"Are you two going to keep commenting after every half a second or will you be good?" Max asked giving them her awesome-Max-glare[patent pending].

"We'll be good!" Ella and Iggy chorused.

**but it's all I can say right now. Max**

**PROLOUGE**

**Congratulations. The fact that you're reading this means you've taken one giant step closer to surviving till your next birthday. Yes, you, standing there, leafing through these pages. Do not put this book done. I'm dead serious-your life could depend upon it.**

**This is my story, the story of my family, but it could just as easily be your story too. We're all in this together; trust me on that.**

**I've never done anything like this, so I'm just going to jump in**

"Maximum 'Charging off' Ride" Total said again.

"Shut it, pup." Max said.

**and you try to keep up.**

**Okay. I'm Max. I'm fourteen. I live with my family, who are five kids not related to me by blood, but still totally my family.**

"What about me, Ella, and the rest?" Dr. M asked.

"This must be before I meet you." Max explained.

**We're-well, we're kind of amazing. Not to sound too full of myself, but we're like nothing you've ever seen before.**

**Basically, we're pretty cool, nice, smart- but not "average in any way. The six of us -me, Fang, Iggy**

"Woo!" Iggy yelled.

**Nudge,**

"Yeah! That's me!" Nudge said excitedly.

**the Gasman,**

Gazzy let off a huge purple stink cloud that left everyone choking for a few minutes.

**and Angel-**

Normally Angel would be working it up, but she was snuggled into Max. Max sat her up.

"Angel, it'll be okay. At least listen, won't you?" Max asked.

Angel uncurled and sat between Max and Fang.

**were made on purpose, by the sickest, most horrible "scientists"**

"No harm intended, Mom," Max said.

"I was just a researcher. I had no idea until too late about what was really going on." Dr. M said.

**you could possibly imagine. They created us as an experiment. An experiment were we ended up only 98 percent human. The other 2 percent has had a big impact, let me tell you.**

**We grew up in a science lab/prison called the school, in cages, like lab rats. It's pretty amazing we can think or speak at all. But we can-and so much more.**

"Got that right!" Gazzy said proudly, perfectly mimicing Max's voice. Everyone laughed.

"Yeah!" Angel said, shifting into her bird-of-paradise and startling the joined flock.

**There was one other School experiment that made it past infancy. Part human, part wolf, all predator: They're called Erasers.**

"Speaking of which, you never answered my question about Ari." Max said to Sam.

Elle gave a piercing wolf-whistle and a small, Gazzy-sized brown-haired head popped around the living room door. A boy walked in. "You whistled?"Ari said.

"Ari!" Max cried out. She ran over and hugged him. After a moment, the rest of the original flock joined.

"Wait a moment, who's Ari? And what does he have to do with Erasers?" Ratchet asked.

Ari is Max's half brother on Jeb's side. He's an Eraser and has died twice, once from his neck cracking and once from an expiration date. The first time, he was brought back to life by fusing his neck bones. Now, he's alive again because of new advances in DNA and genes studies." Sam explained.

Max brought Ari to Angel's old seat and sat him there, explaining what had happened so far.

"Oh, and nobody is supposed to hold grudges about anything that happens in these books," Sam added, "We don't want any mishaps!"

"Mishaps? Really, Sam?" Elle asked.

"Hey, you know I'm nuts about words." Sam defended.

After some hemming and hawing, everyone agreed to not get mad and Max began reading again.

**They're tough, smart, and hard to control. They look human,**

Ari took a bow.

**but when they want to, they are capable of morphing into wolfmen, complete with fur, fangs, and claws.**

Max looked to Ari. "Can you still transform now that you look normal?" She asked.

Ari transformed into his full adult wolfman glory and roared, shocking Dr. M off her couch and causing all the mutants to jump to their feet ready to fight. Ari shrank back to normal. "It's still me." He explained. Everyone sat back down, but the air was still thick with tension.

**The School uses them as guards, police-and executioners.**

**To them, we're six moving targets-prey smart enouh to be a fun challenge. Basically, they want to rip our throats out.**

"And I'm really sorry about that. Apparently, having your DNA messed with screws up your emtions. The more your genes are played with, the more emtional you get. And since I was a special case..." Ari trailed off bitterly.

**And make sure the world never knows about us.**

"Too late!" Gazzy yelled. The tension collapsed and most of the people giggled.

**But I'm not lying down just yet. I'm telling you, right?**

**This story could be about you-or your children. If not today, then soon. So, please, please take this seriously. I'm risking everything that matters by telling you-but you need to know.**

"I'll guess this is before your latest adventures." Star said.

"Well, whatever gave you that impression?" Katie teased.

"Maybe the fact that the world knows about us and we're safe now." Star retorted.

**Keep reading-and don't let anyone stop you. **

**-Max. And my family: Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. Welcome to our nightmare.**

"More scary stuff." Iggy commented.

"Shut up Iggy. "Max said. "Fang, your turn to read." She passed the book over Angel's head, knowing she wouldn't want to read. Fang took the book, cleared his throat, and began.

**Part One Flock Fright**

**Chapter One**

**The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective.**

**Take right now, for instance.**

**_Run! Come on, run! You know you can do it. _I gulped deep lungfuls of air. My brain was on hyper-drive; I was racing for my life. My one goal was to escape. Nothing else mattered.**

**My arms being scratched to ribbons by a briar I'd run through? No biggie. **

**My bare feet hitting every sharp rock, rough root, pointed stick? Not a problem.**

**My lungs aching for air? I could deal. **

**As long as I could put as much distance as possible between me and the Erasers. **

**Y****eah, Erasers. Mutants: half-men, half-wolves, usually armed, always bloodthirsty. Right now they were after me. **

**See? That snaps everything into perspective. **

**_Run. You're faster than they are. You can outrun anyone. _**

**I'd never been this far from the School before.**

"I definitely don't remember this. Whenever I ran away, I never got out of the building." Max stated.

**I was totally lost. Still, my arms pumped by my sides, my feet crashed through the underbrush, my eyes scanned ahead anxiously through the half-light. I could outrun them. I could find a clearing with enough space for me to dash **

**_Oh, no. Oh, no. _The unearthly baying of bloodhounds on the scent wailed through the trees, and I felt sick. I could outrun men; all of us could, even Angel, and she's only six. But none of us could outrun a big dog.**

**_Dogs, dogs, go away, let me live another day._**

"Are you okay?" Ella asked.

"I'm here, aren't I?" Max answered.

**They were getting closer. Dim light filtered in through the woods in front of me; a clearing? Please, please, help; a clearing could save me. **

**I burst through the trees, chest heaving, a thin sheen of cold sweat on my skin.**

**_Yes!_**

**_No__oh, no_! **

**I skidded to a halt, my arms waving, my feet backpedaling in the rocky dirt. **

**It wasn't a clearing. In front of me was a _cliff, _a sheer face of rock that dropped to an unseeable floor hundreds of feet below. **

"But that's no big deal. We have WINGS." Nudge argued.

**In back of me were woods filled with drooling bloodhounds and psycho Erasers with guns. **

**Both options stank. **

**The dogs were yelping excitedly; they'd found their prey: _moi. _**

**I looked over the deadly drop. **

**There was no choice, really. If you were me, you'd have done the same thing. **

**I closed my eyes, held out my arms; and let myself fall over the edge of the cliff.**

"Use your wings!" Gazzy yelled.

**The Erasers screamed angrily, the dogs barked hysterically, and then all I could hear was the sound of air rushing past me. It was so dang peaceful, for a second. I smiled. **

**Then, taking a deep breath, I unfurled my wings as hard and fast as I could. **

"Yay!" Elle yelled.

"Elle, you already knew that would happen. You and I both read all the books multiple times on the way over." Sam reminded the winged asian girl.

Elle shrugged. "It's still exciting."

**Thirteen feet across, pale tan with white streaks and some freckly looking brown spots, they caught the air, and I was suddenly yanked upward, hard, as if a parachute had just opened. **

**_Yow! Note to self: No sudden unfurling. _**

**Wincing, I pushed downward with all my strength, then pulled my wings up, then pushed downward again. Oh man, I _was flying_; just like I'd always dreamed. **

**The cliff floor, draped in shadow, receded beneath me. I laughed and surged upward, feeling the pull of my muscles, the air whistling through my secondary feathers, the breeze drying the sweat on my face. **

**I soared up past the cliff edge, past the startled hounds and the furious Erasers. **

**One of them, hairy-faced, fangs dripping, raised his gun. A red dot of light appeared on my torn nightgown. _Not today, you jerk, _I thought, veering sharply west so the sun would be in his hate-crazed eyes. **

**_I'm not going to die today. _**

"Woo!" Iggy yelled.

"Oh, shut it Ig." Max said.

Fang laughed and handed the book to Nudge, who steadied the book on her knees and began.

Chapter 2...


	3. Chapters 2, 3, and 4

Chapter 3

AN: Sorry I took so long! *dodges rotten food being thrown* Get away from me! *is whacked* Ow. You people are violent.

On a different note: O.o I have almost 100 hits! XD XD XD And it's only been about a month and a half! I'm so glad everybody likes this! I do plan on doing all the books.

Disclaimer:

Fang laughed and handed the book to Nudge, who steadied the book on her knees and began.

**Chapter Two**

**I jolted upright in bed, gasping, my hand over my heart. **

"Of course, it was a dream!" Max exclaimed.

**I couldn't help checking my nightgown. No red laser dot. No bullet holes. I fell back on my bed, limp with relief. Yeesh, I hated that dream. It was always the same: running away from the School, being chased by Erasers and dogs, me falling off a cliff, then suddenly _whoosh, _wings, flying, escaping. I always woke up feeling a second away from death. **

**_Note to self: Give subconscious a pep talk re: better dreams._**

"Max, do you really make these notes to yourself?" Maya asked.

"You don't?" Max shot back.

"Why is it always Max and Maya comparing themselves, it's not like they're sisters, even though they look kind of alike." Holden said.

Angel laughed at the irony.

**It was chilly, but I forced myself out of my cozy bed. I threw on clean sweats; amazingly, Nudge had put the laundry away.**

Nudge interrupted herself to protest. "I wasn't that bad. Sure, I did forget more than I remembered. And when you remembered it took several times to convince me that it was my job. Well, I guess I was that bad." She returned to reading, unaware of the silent and muffled laughter around her.

**Everyone else was still asleep: I could have a few minutes of peace and quiet, get a jump on the day.**

**I glanced out the hall windows on the way to the kitchen. I loved this view: the morning sunlight breaking over the crest of the mountains, the clear sky, the deep shadows, the fact that I could see no sign of any other people.**

**We were high on a mountain, safe, just me and my family.**

**Our house was shaped like a letter _E _turned on its side. The bars of the _E _were cantilevered on stilts out over a steep canyon, so if I looked out a window, I felt like I was floating. On a scale from one to ten, this house was an easy fifteen.**

"Sweet!" Kate exclaimed.

**Here, my family and I could be ourselves. Here, we could live free. I mean _literally _free, as in, not in _cages. _Long story. More on that later.**

**And of course here's the best part: no grown-ups. When we first moved here, Jeb Batchelder had taken care of us, like a dad.**

"You do know he IS your real dad, right?" Nudge checked, once more stopping reading.

"Just read, for pete's sake Nudge!" Ratchet groaned. Iggy cackled.

**He'd saved us. None of us had parents, but Jeb had come as close as possible. **

**Two years ago, he'd disappeared. I knew he was dead, we all did, but we didn't talk about it. Now we were on our own.**

**Yep, no one telling us what to do, what to eat, when to go to bed. Well, except me. I'm the oldest, so I try to keep things running as best I can. Its a hard, thankless job, but someone has to do it. **

**We don't go to school, either, so thank God for the Internet, because otherwise we wouldn't know _nothing. _**

"Max, that's a double negative." Dr. M noted.

"They were porbably just trying to be ironic." Max explained.

**But no schools, no doctors, no social workers knocking on our door. It's simple: If no one knows about us, _we stay alive._**

**I was rustling around for food in the kitchen when I heard sleepy shuffling behind me. "Mornin', Max."**

**3 **

**"Morning, Gazzy," I said as the heavy-lidded eight-year-old slumped at the table. I rubbed his back and dropped a kiss on his head. He'd been the Gasman ever since he was a baby. What can I say? The child has something funky with his digestive system. A word to the wise: Stay upwind.**

**The Gasman blinked up at me, his gorgeous blue eyes round and trusting. "What's for breakfast? he asked, sitting up. His fine blond hair stuck up all over his head, reminding me of a fledgling's downy feathers. **

**"Um, it's a surprise," I said, since I had no idea.**

**"I'll pour juice," the Gasman offered, and my heart swelled. He was a sweet, sweet kid, and so was his little sister. He and six-year-old Angel were the only blood siblings among us, but we were all a family anyway.**

**Soon Iggy, tall and pale, slouched into the kitchen. Eyes closed, he fell onto our beat-up couch with perfect aim. The only time he has trouble being blind is when one of us forgets and moves furniture or something.**

**"Hey, Ig, rise and shine," I said. **

**"Bite me," he mumbled sleepily.**

"Only you, Iggy," Gazzy commented.

**"Fine," I said. "Miss breakfast." **

**I was looking in the fridge with naive hope maybe the food fairies had come when the back of my neck prickled. I straightened quickly and spun around. **

**"Will you _quit _that?" I said. Fang always appeared silently like that, out of nowhere, like a dark shadow come to life. He regarded me calmly, dressed and alert, his dark, overlong hair brushed back. He was four months younger than me but already four inches taller. **

**"Quit what?" he asked calmly. "Breathing?"**

**I rolled my eyes. "You know what."**

**With a grunt, Iggy staggered upright. "I'll make eggs," he announced. I guess if I were more of a fembot, it would bother me that a _blind _guy six months younger than I am could cook better than I could. **

**But I'm not. So it didn't. **

Ella fell off the couch laughing.

**I surveyed the kitchen. Breakf****ast was well under way. "Fang? You set the table. I'll go get Nudge and Angel."**

**The two girls shared the last small bedroom. I pushed the door open to find eleven-year-old Nudge asleep, tangled up in her covers. She was barely recognizable with her mouth shut, I thought wryly. When she was awake, we called it the Nudge Channel: all Nudge, all the time.**

**"Hey, sweetie, up and at 'em," I said, gently shaking her shoulder. "Breakfast in ten." **

**Nudge blinked, her brown eyes struggling to focus on me. "Wha'?" she mumbled. **

**"Another day," I said. "Get up and face it."**

**Groaning, Nudge levered herself into a crumpled but technically upright position. **

**Across the room, a thin curtain concealed one corner. Angel always liked small cozy spaces. Her bed, tucked behind the curtain, was like a nestfull of stuffed animals, books, most of her clothes. I smiled and pulled the curtain back. **

**"Hey, you're already dressed," I said, leaning over to hug her. **

**"Hi, Max," Angel said, tugging her blond curls out of her collar. "Can you do my buttons?"**

**I turned her around and started doing her up. ****I'd never told the others, but I just loved, loved, _loved _Angel. Maybe because I'd been taking care of her practically since she was a baby. Maybe because she was just so incredibly sweet and loving herself. **

**"Maybe because I'm like your little girl," said Angel, turning around to look at me. "But don't worry, Max. I won't tell anybody. Besides, I love you best too."**

"More than me?" Gazzy pretended to sulk.

**She threw her skinny arms around my neck and planted a somewhat sticky kiss on my cheek. I hugged her back, hard. Oh, yeah, another special thing about Angel. **

**She can read minds.**

**4 **

**"I want to go pick strawberries today," Angel said firmly, scooping up a forkful of scrambled eggs. "They're ripe now."**

"Oh dang."Nudge said softly. "The last time we went go pick strawberries.." She trailed off.

**"Okay, Angel, I'll go with you," said the Gasman. Just then he let rip one of his unfortunate occurrences and giggled. **

**"Oh, man, Gazzy," I said disapprovingly. **

**"Gas... mask!" Iggy choked out, grasping his neck and pretending to asphyxiate.**

Elle and Sam laughed their heads off. "It's so much funnier when you know them." Elle commented.

**"I'm _done," _Fang said, getting up quickly and taking his plate to the sink.**

**"Sorry," the Gasman said automatically, but he kept eating. **

**"Yeah, Angel," said Nudge. "I think the _fresh air _would do us all good. I'll go too."**

**"We'll all go," I said. **

**Outside, it was beautiful, clear and cloudless, with the first real heat of May. We carried buckets and baskets as Angel led us to a huge patch of wild strawberries.**

**She held my hand. "If you make cake, I can make strawberry shortcakes," she said happily.**

"You were seriously asking MAX to make you a cake?" Dr. Martinez asked.

"MOM!"

**"Yeah, that'll be the day, when Max makes a cake," I heard Iggy say. "l'll make it, Angel."**

**I whirled. "Oh, thank you!" I exclaimed. "Okay, I'm not a fabulous cook.**

"You set a bowl of cereal ON FIRE. I didn't even think that was possible." Nudge pointed out. "You are a horrible cook."

**But I can still kick your butt, and don't you forget it!"**

**Iggy was laughing, holding up his hands in denial. Nudge was trying not to laugh, even Fang was grinning, and the Gasman looked mischievous. **

**"Was that _you?" _I asked Gazzy.**

"That is way cooler than being the starfish." Holden said.

**He grinned and shrugged, trying not to look too pleased with himself. The Gasman had been about three when I realized he could mimic just about any sound or voice. I'd lost count of how many times Iggy and Fang had almost come to blows over stuff Gazzy had said in their voices. It was a dark gift, and he wielded it happily. **

**It was just another weird ability-most of us had them. Whatever they were, they sure made life more interesting. **

**Next to me, Angel froze and screamed.**

"What?" Kate cried out, really getting into the story.

**Startled, I stared down at her, and in the next second, men with wolfish muzzles, huge canines, and reddish, glinting eyes dropped out of the sky like spiders. Erasers! And it wasn't a dream.**

"Cliffhanger!" Nudge sang out. She handed the book along and Star began to read.


	4. Chapters 5, 6, and 7

Chapter 4 (I had some errors and formatting mistakes so I re-uploaded)

AN: I have sooo many more alerts and favorites! And TWO MORE REVIEWS! XD Here's the next chappy, I hope you like it as much as the others. It gets kind of sad and serious, but that's how the chapters are.

"Cliffhanger!" Nudge sang out. She handed the book along and Star began to read.

**5**  
><strong>There was no time to think. Jeb had trained us not to think-just to act. I launched myself at an Eraser, spinning and<strong> **planting a hard, roundhouse kick in his barrel chest. His breath went _oof, _and the odor was just awful, like raw sewage left** **out in the hot sun.**

"Eww! Gross!" Ella, Kate, and Maya cried out in near unison. They looked at each other and laughed.

**After that, it was like a movie, a bunch of superimposed images that hardly seemed real. I landed another blow, then an** **Eraser punched me so hard that my head snapped around and I felt a burst of blood in my mouth.**

"Ow. That stings," Nudge sympathized.

"You seem so used to this. Did this happen on a regular basis?" Dr. M asked in horror.

"Pretty much," Nudge answered nonchalantly.

Dr. Martinez's mouth tightened to a small thin line.

**Out of the corner of my** **eye, I saw Fang holding his own against an Eraser until two more ganged up on him, and he went down under flail****ing clawed hands.**

**Iggy was still upright, but one eye was already swelling shut.**

Ella snuggled closer to her boyfriend.

**Beyond shock, I scrambled to my feet, then saw the Gasman out cold, lying facedown on the ground.**

Angel got up and walked over to her birth brother. They curled up together, comforting each other.

**I leaped toward him, only to be grabbed again. Two Erasers pinned my arms behind my back. Another leaned in, his reddish** **eyes glinting with excitement, his jaw fully morphed out and snoutlike. He pulled back his hand and curled it into a fist.** **Then he brought it in hard, punching me in the stomach. An unbelievable pain exploded inside me, and I doubled over,** **dropping like a stone.**

**Dimly, I heard Angel screaming and Nudge crying.**

**_Get up! _I told myself, trying to suck in air. _Get up!_**

**As weird mutant kids, we're much, much stronger than regular grown-up humans. But Erasers aren't regular**** grown-up humans, and they outnumbered us as well. We were dog meat. I struggled to my hands and knees, trying not to** **retch.**

**I staggered to my feet, bloodlust in my eyes, ready to kill. Two Erasers held Nudge's hands and feet. They swung**** her hard, and she went sailing, hitting her head against a tree. I heard a small pained cry, and then she lay crumpled among** **the pine needles.**

Nudge sighed, rubbing her head where she had hit.

**With a hoarse, blood-muffled shout, I ran up and clapped my cupped palms around an Eraser's furry ears. He** **shrieked as his eardrums popped, and he fell to his knees.**

**"Max!" Angel screamed, high-pitched and terrified, and I spun around. An Eraser had her by the arms, and I raced forward, jumping over Iggy, who now lay unconscious. Two Erasers fell on me, knocking me down, one pressing a heavy knee into my chest. I wheezed and struggled, and one of them cuffed my face hard, his ragged claws digging deep welts in my cheek.**

**Dizzily, I fell back, the two Erasers pinning me, and with uncomprehending horror I saw three other Erasers stuffing Angel,** **my baby, into a rough sack. She was crying and screaming, and one of them hit her.**

From Angel and Gazzy came muffled sobs and quiet comforting words.

**Frantically struggling, I tried to scream but could make only a hoarse, choked cry. "Get _off me, _you stupid, freaky****" I choked, but I was slammed back again.**

**An Eraser leaned over me, smiling horribly.**

**"Max," he said,**

Ari started whacking his head against his hands. Max grabbed his wrists and shook her head at him.

**and my stomach clenched, did I know him? "Good to see you again,"** **he went on conversationally."**You look like crap. You always acted so much better than everyone else, so this** **cheers me up."****

**"Who are you?" I gasped, feeling cold at the center of my being.**

**The Eraser grinned, his long, sharp teeth barely fitting in his jaw. "You don't recognize me? I guess** **I've grown some."**

**My eyes went wide with sudden, horrified recognition.**

**"Ari." I whispered, and he laughed like a mad person. Then he stood up. I saw his huge, black boot come at**** my head, felt my head jerk to one side, and everything went black.**

**My last thought was disbelief: Ari was Jeb's son. They'd made him into an Eraser. He was seven years old.**

Star, no longer wanting to read, handed the book over to Kate.

**6**

**"Max?" The Gasman's voice was very young and very scared.**

**I heard a horrible, low moan, then realized it had come from me.**

**The Gasman and Fang were leaning over me, concerned expressions on their bruised, bloodied faces.**

**"I'm okay," I croaked, having no idea if I was or not. Memory came rushing back, and I tried to sit** **up. "Where's Angel?" My voice was strained.**

**Fangs dark eyes met mine. "She's gone. They took her."**

**I thought I might faint again. I remembered being nine years old, looking out the wired-glass lab window, watching the** **Erasers in the semidarkness. The whitecoats had released chimpanzees onto the School grounds and let newly made Erasers** **loose after them. Teaching them how to hunt.**

**The sounds of the chimpanzees screeching in terror and pain still echoed in my mind.**

**_That was who had Angel now._**

**Rage overwhelmed me, why couldn't they have taken me instead? Why take a tiny kid? Maybe _I _would have**  
><strong>had a chance, maybe.<strong>

**Shakily, I got to my feet. My head was spinning, and I had to lean against Fang, hating my weakness. "We've**** got to get her," I said urgently, trying to stay upright. We've got to get her before** **they-" Horror-filled images flashed through my mind-Angel being chased, being hurt, being killed. I gulped, shutting them down. **

**"Check in, guys-are you up for a chase?" I examined the four of them. They looked like they'd been stuffed into a blender set on 'chop'.**

"Yuck." Fang commented.

"And the one word sentences return." Max gave a dramatic sigh.

**"Yes." Nudge said in a tear-choked voice.**

**"I'm up," said Iggy, a split lip making his voice thick.**

**The Gasman nodded solemnly at me.**

**To my horror, hot tears momentarily blurred my vision. I wiped them away with the back of one hand and called on fury to** **keep me going.**

**Just then Iggy cocked his head slightly. It was a clue for me to start listening intently. Then I heard it too: a faint engine** **noise.**

**"There," Iggy said, pointing.**

**The five of us ran stiffly and clumsily toward the sound. A hundred yards through the woods brought us to a sharp drop-off** **maybe fifty feet above an old, unused logging road.**

**Then I saw it: a black Humvee, dull with dust and mud, bumping roughly over the unpaved road. My heart pounded. I** **knew, just knew, that my little one, my Angel, was inside. And she was on her way to a place where death came as a bless****ing.**

"Oh, my." Dr. M seemed to have trouble breathing.

**It wasn't going to happen, not while I was breathing.**  
><strong>"Let's get her!" I cried, then backed up about ten feet. The others scurried out of my way as I ran to<strong> **the edge and simply jumped out into space.**

**I started to fall toward the road.**

**Then I unfurled my wings, fast, catching the wind.**

**And I began to fly.**

**7  
><strong>

**You see, that nightmare I had is actually hard to tell apart from my real life.**

"Oh really?" Iggy asked with fake innocence.

**My friends and I really did used to live at a stinking cesspool of evil called the School. We were created by scientists, whitecoats, who grafted avian DNA onto our human genes. Jeb had been a whitecoat, but he'd felt sorry for us, cared about us, and kidnapped us away from there.**

**We were bird kids, a flock of six. And the Erasers wanted to kill us. Now they had six-year-old Angel.**

**I gave a strong push down and then up, feeling my shoulder muscles working to move my thirteen-foot wingspan.**

**I banked sharply, heading after the Humvee. A quick glance back revealed that Nudge had jumped out after me, then Iggy, the Gasman, and Fang. In tight formation, we swerved down toward the car. Fang snatched a dead branch off a tree. He dropped straight down and smashed it against the Humvee's front windshield.**

**The vehicle swerved, a window rolled down. A gun barrel poked out. Around me, trees started popping with bullets. The smell of hot metal and gun smoke filled the air. I looped back into the tree line, still tracking the car. Fang smashed the windshield again. Bullets spit from several windows. Fang wisely surged away.**

**I screamed. "We're here! We're coming for you!"**

**"Up ahead," called Fang, and I saw a clearing maybe two hundred yards away. Through the trees, I could barely see the greenish outline of a chopper. The Humvee was bouncing heavily over the rutted road. I met Fang's**** eyes, and he nodded. Our chance was when they moved Angel from the car to the chopper.**

**It all happened so fast, though. The Humvee braked awkwardly, sliding in the mud. The door burst open, and an Eraser sprang out. Fang dropped on him, then recoiled with a yell, his arm dripping blood. The Eraser sped toward the chopper, throwing himself through the open hatch. A second Eraser, showing his huge yellow canine teeth, leaped from the car and hurled something into the air. Shouting, Nudge grabbed Iggy's hand and they pulled backward fast as a grenade exploded in front of them, spewing chunks of metal and tree bark everywhere.**

"That would have been awesome being that close." Gazzy trailed off dreamily.

Max cleared her throat and shot him a pointed look.

"That is, if my life wasn't in danger." Gazzy added hurriedly.

**The chopper's rotor was picking up speed, and I shot out from behind the trees. They were _not _going to get my baby.**

**They were _not _taking her back to that place.**

Ari jumped out of the car, carrying the sack with Angel in it.

**I tore toward the chopper, fear and desperate anger making my blood sing. Ari threw Angel's sack through the open door. He jumped in behind, an incredible athlete himself.**

Ari perked up and laughed. "I work out," he said.

**With a furious roar, I sprang up and caught hold of the choppers landing skid just as it took off. The metal was hot from the sun and too wide to hold. I hooked one arm over it, trying to steady myself.**

**The massive downdraft from the rotors almost snapped my wings in half. I pulled them in, and the Erasers laughed, pointing at me as they closed the glass hatch. Ari was right there. He picked up a rifle and aimed it at me.**

Ari slumped again.

**"Let me tell you a secret, old pal, old chap," Ari yelled at me. "You've got it all wrong."**

**"We're the good guys!"**

**"Angel." I whispered, near tears. Ari's claw tightened on the trigger. _He would do it. _And dead, I** **would be no use to anybody.**

**My heart breaking, I let go, falling fast, just as I saw a small, tousled blond head shake itself free of the sack. My baby, flying away toward her death.**

**And, trust me on this, things much worse than death.**

Kate let the book fall closed. Everyone was shocked or unhappy or sad.

Max looked around the room. Ella was trying to convince Iggy to let her go find the old whitecoats and hurt them. Gazzy and Angel were still snuggled together, tears running down their small cheeks. Dr. Martinez was in shock, muttering to herself. Star, Kate, Ratchet, Holden, and Maya had wide, sympathetic eyes and dropped jaws. Nudge was rubbing her head as if she could still feel her old injuries. Sam and Elle were stoic, as they already knew what had happened. The three dogs were cuddled together on the floor, 'talking' softly. Fang was rubbing Ari's back. And Ari. . . Ari was crying his heart out, feeling awful.

"Ari. It isn't your fault. It was the scientists' fault. No one blames you," Max spoke softly.

Ari looked up, tear streaks running down his face. "Really?" He hesitatingly asked, his voice muffled by his stuffed up nose.

Max gave him a hug. "Really." Ari hugged back, tears muffled and gently slowing.

Max looked around the room once more. Gazzy and Angel were drying each others' tears, Kate and Star were patting Nudge's back, everyone was recuperating. "How about a break and a snack?" Max suggested.

"As long as you don't make it." Nudge's slightly muffled statement caused many weak chuckles.

"Iggy? Mom? Would you mind?" Max said.

"Of course," Dr. M left.

"Sure," Iggy got up and followed to the kitchen.

Everyone chatted quietly, trying to get over the shock of the chapter. Except Angel and Ari. Their minds were still occupied with what was to come.


	5. A snack, a prank, an explaination

Chapter 5

A/N: Can it be? Yes, I have updated within a few days! No, you're not dreaming. Unless you are currently in bed with your eyes shut and somehow reading this in your sleep. In that case, yes, you are dreaming. And you are totally awesome because you have supernatural powers! XD Oh and brownie points to anyone who can figure out the slight reference (I'll give you a hint: it's from a TV show).

Max got up. "Come on, everyone," she said, "let's go up and eat something." She propped Ari up and pulled him to the kitchen.

"She's still not the best emotionally," Elle muttered under her breath to Sam, who laughed.

Sort of recuperated, they all stood up and walked to the kitchen. Iggy was cutting some apples and cheddar cheese.

"We're still trying to figure out how he does that," Ella told Kate, Star, and Maya.

Dr. Martinez was getting out crackers and setting them onto plates. Then she sprinkled the sliced cheese on and put the plates in the microwave.

"Once heated, the cheese will get all yummy and gooey. Then she'll put more cheese on and do it again. It's really yummy and has a lot of calories, so it helps with our high metalize... metabolites..." Nudge struggled to find the right word.

"You mean 'Metabolism'?" Sam supplied.

"Yeah," Nudge said. "Hey, that makes me think of something. Do you guys have high metabolisms? Do you have any special powers or other DNA or anything? Because Iggy can feel colors and see white, Holden is like Starfish-man and heals himself, Max can fly really really fast, Fang turns invisible,"

"Nudge," Elle interrupted, wanting to cut off the talk before it got too long, "we've read the books already. Remember, we told you? We already know who has what power or what DNA."

Nudge frowned. Star, Kate, and Maya, laughed, knowing Nudge hated being interrupted.

"But she's got a point. Do you have any other powers or DNA?" Gazzy cut in.

Well, I'm part bat instead of bird, so I've got a really, really, REALLY fast metabolism, a lot like Star. But I can't go fast. And I can echolocate and my wings are kind of fuzzy and leathery. Other than that, I can manipulate fire." Elle answered.

"Cool," Gazzy said reverently.

"What about you, Sam?" Angel asked, sounding annoyed for some reason.

"Well, as you've probably already discovered, I can put up telepathic shields for me and up to two others. So nobody can read my mind or manipulate me. You'd be surprised how often that comes in handy," Sam answered proudly.

Angel pouted, feeling slightly weakened.

"In addition to that, I have telekinesis," Sam added.

"What's that?" Ari asked, having been listening.

Sam scrunched up her face and put out her hand. Slowly, one of the apples Iggy hadn't used yet rose into the air. It spun and bobbed, then floated to Dr. M's shoulder and bumped her. She grabbed it and frowned, obviously puzzled.

"Oh, that's funny! Do some more!" Ella begged. Seeing her mom like this was priceless.

Sam 'picked up' another apple and set it on Dr. M's head. She dropped the crackers and spun around, obviously confused. She was looking around but Fang was sitting and talking with Max, so it couldn't be him being invisible.

Angel snorted. Dr. M was thinking some very un-motherly thoughts right now.

The two last apples spun around Dr. M in a circle. Whenever she tried to grab them, they would fly up to the ceiling or go so low they almost skimmed the floor.

"Hey, where did all my apples go?" Iggy asked. He had reached for another and come up empty.

Unable to take it anymore, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, Kate, Star, Ari, Maya, Ella, Elle, and Sam all burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Max asked. Fang looked over in interest.

Angel explained in their minds. Max and Fang burst out laughing. And yes, we are still talking about the same Fang.

After Sam explained what had happened between when they got to the kitchen to when the apples ran out, Iggy joined the laughing chorus. After a moment, Dr. Martinez laughed too. They all ate many crackers with cheese and apple slices (Elle and Star having to help cut more after exhausting the supplies) and joked around. A new, happier mood was there. Hopefully, it would stay throughout the reading.


	6. Chapters 8, 9, and 10

Chapter 6

AN: Here you go, Saph! I am getting much faster at updating(much sarcasm). And I'm going to cut off the questions right here: Iggy is still blind. But I am of the mind that since he can see the whiteness of the pages, he should be able to make out the shapes of the letters because the white would form around them.

Everyone settled back into their seats. They weren't really ready for more, but they knew they had to. The happy mood stilled a bit, a more solemn atmosphere taking its place. Iggy grabbed the book and flipped through the pages, finding where they had left off.

**8 We all have great vision-raptor vision. So we had the excruciating pain of watching the helicopter take Angel away for much longer than the average person. My throat closed with a sob. Angel, whom I had cared for since she was a baby with goofy chicken wings.**

"Aww," Ella cooed.

**I felt like they had chopped my own right wing off, leaving a ragged, gaping wound. **

**"They have my sister!" the Gasman howled, throwing himself down. He always tried so hard to be a tough guy, but he was only eight, and he'd just seen his sister kidnapped by the worst monsters in this world. He pounded the dirt with his fists, and Fang knelt next to him, one arm tenderly around his shoulder.**

Iggy sweetly and mockingly said "Fangy has a sweet side."

Fang shot him a dirty look.

**"Max, what are we gonna do?" Nudge's eyes were swimming with tears. She was bruised and bloody, her fists clenching and unclenching anxiously. "_They have Angel._" **

**Suddenly I knew I was going to implode. Without a word, I pushed off from the ground, wings out, taking off as fast as I could. **

**I flew out of sight, out of the others' hearing. Ahead was a huge Douglas fir, and I landed ungracefully on one of its upper branches, maybe 175 feet in the air, scrabbling to catch hold because I'd overshot. Gasping, I clung to the limb. **

**_Okay, Max, think. Think! Fix this! Figure something out._ **

**My brain was flooded with too much thought, emotion, confusion, rage, pain. I needed to get a grip. **

**But I couldn't get a grip. **

**It was like I had just lost my little sister. **

**And like I had lost my little girl. **

**"Oh, no, Angel, Angel, Angel!" **

**Yelling as loud as I could, I made fists and punched the chunky bark of the fir tree hard, over and over, until finally actual pain seeped into my seared consciousness. I stared at my knuckles, saw the blood, the missing skin, the splinters. **

**The physical pain hurt much less than the mental kind. **

**My Angel, my baby, had been snatched away. She was with bloodthirsty man-wolf mutants eager for her blood who would turn her over to despicable lab geeks who wanted to take her apart. _Literally._**

All mutants in the room shuddered, each reliving memories of experiments gone wrong.

**Then I was crying, clinging to the tree as if it were a lifeboat from the Titanic, and I sobbed and sobbed until I thought I'd make myself sick. Gradually, the sobs slowed to shudders, and I wiped my face on my shirt, leaving streaks of blood.**

Elle wrinkled her nose.

**I sat in the tree until my breathing calmed and my brain seemed to be hitting on most cylinders again. My hands were killing me, though. _Note to self: Stop punching inanimate objects.  
><em>**

Max groaned and face-palmed."I'm really starting to not like these books," she mumbled.

**Okay. It was time to go down and be strong, to get everyone together, to come up with Plan B. **

**And one other thing-Ari's last words were still screaming in my brain: We're the good guys.**

**9 I don't even remember flying home. I felt heartbroken and numb, and when we walked into the kitchen, the first thing I saw was Angel's breakfast plate on the table. **

**Iggy howled and swept his hand across the kitchen counter, catapulting a mug through the air. It hit Fang in the side of the head.  
><strong>

"Sorry," Iggy interrupted himself again.

**"Watch it, idiot!" he yelled at Iggy furiously. Then he realized what he'd said, clenched his teeth, and rolled his eyes at me in frustration. **

"Sorry," Fang replied.

Max rolled her eyes. They had been so mad at each other at the time and all it took now was a simple apology? Boys. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

**Tears were streaming down my cheeks, their salt stinging where the Eraser had raked me with his claws. Moving automatically, I got the first aid kit**

"Okay, now I'm worried. Why on earth should patching up injuries be something that comes automatically?" Dr. M demanded.

Max shrugged. "We did it so many times at the School it has become almost second nature to us. Besides, it's a lot easier when you aren't in a cage and you actually have some medical supplies to use," she answered nonchalantly.

Dr. M buried her face in her hands. "Not helping," she mumbled.

**and started cleaning the Gasman's scrapes and cuts. I looked around. Nudge's cheek was bleeding; some shrapnel had burned her as it flew past. For once she wasn't talking-she was curled on the couch, crying.**

** The Gasman glanced up at me. **

**_How'd you let this happen, Max?_ **

**I was asking myself the same question.**

**True, I'm the leader, I'm Max the Invincible-but I'm also just a fourteen- year-old kid. And every once in a while, like when I realize all over again that Jeb is gone forever, that we're on our own, that the others depend on me and I can't let them down, well, that's when it all gets to me. Suddenly, I'm a little kid again, wishing Jeb were back-or even, hey, wishing I was normal! Or had parents! **

**Yeah, right. **

Dr. M was almost crying in frustration, slumped in her seat. She was very mad at herself for not seeing what the School was sooner, for not exposing it to the the public, for leaving her babies (she thought of the whole flock as her babies) to fend for themselves. Then she sat up. She couldn't do anything about what had happened, but she could do something now. She smiled a smile that could almost be described as devious and began thinking up some plans.**  
><strong>

**"You watch it!" Iggy shouted at Fang. "What happened? I mean, you guys can see, can't you? Why couldn't you get Angel?" **

**"They had a chopper!" the Gasman yelled, squirming out of my reach. "And guns! We're not _bulletproof_!" **

"I am," Holden said smugly.

"We know," everyone reminded him.

**"Guys! Guys!" I yelled. "We're all upset. But we're not the enemy! They're the enemy." **

**I stuck the last Band-Aid on the Gasman and started pacing. "Just-be quiet for a minute so I can think," I added more calmly. It wasn't their fault our rescue mission had been such a total ditcher. It wasn't their fault Angel was gone. **

**It was their fault that the kitchen looked like it belonged to a family of hygiene-challenged jackals, but I would deal with that later. **

Iggy, Gazzy, Ratchet, and surprisingly Ari snorted. **  
><strong>

**Whenever that kind of thing became important again. If ever. **

**Iggy moved to the couch and almost sat on Nudge. She scooted to one side, and when he sat down, she put her head on his shoulder. He stroked her hair. **

**"Take deep breaths," the Gasman advised me, looking concerned. I almost burst into tears again. I had let his sister get kidnapped, failed to save her, and he was worried about _me_.**

**Fang was darkly silent. His eyes watched me as he opened a can of ravioli and picked up a fork with a heavily bandaged hand. **

**"You know, if they just wanted to kill her, or kill all of us, they could have," Nudge said shakily. "They had guns. They wanted Angel alive for some reason. And they didn't care if we were alive or not. I mean, they didn't go out of their way to make sure we were dead, is what I'm saying. So that makes me think we have time to go after Angel again." **

**"But they were in a chopper," said the Gasman. "They're way gone. They could be anywhere." His lower lip trembled, and he clenched his jaw. "Like, China or something." **

**I went over and ruffled his already ruffled blond hair. "I don't think they took her to China, Gazzy." **

**"We know where they took her." Fang's calm words fell like stones. He scraped the bottom of the can with his fork. **

**"Where's that?" Iggy asked, raising his head, his blind eyes bloodshot with unshed tears. **

**"The School," Fang and I said at the same time. Well, as you can imagine, that went over like a ton of bricks.**

"Oh, so they're supposed to be thrilled about that?" Elle asked innocently. Sam whacked her upside the head.

"Not now," Sam hissed, jerking her head to indicate the pale flock. Elle pouted.

**10 Nudge gasped, her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. **

**The Gasman looked scared, then tried to wipe it off his face. **

**Iggy's spine tightened, his face like ice. When he'd been at the School, they'd tried to surgically enhance his night vision. Now he was blind forever. Oops. **

"Yeah, just a teeny-tiny oops," Ella said sarcastically.

**"They took Angel back to the School?" the Gasman asked, confused. **

**"I think so," I said, trying to sound together and lead-erly. **

"Don't you love how Max makes up words?" Gazzy asked.

Max turned red (whether from anger or embarrassment is unknown) and everyone else laughed, a bit lightened.

**As if I weren't screaming with panic inside. **

**"Why?" Nudge whispered. "After four years, I thought maybe they had forgotten-" **

**"They want us back," said Fang. **

**We'd never really talked about this. It was like, out of sight, out of mind. Actually, more like, let's all try to forget when we were at the mercy of sadistic spawns of Satan in a place that's a total abomination and ought to be firebombed.**

"Lovely," Ella said disdainfully.

** Yeah, more like that. **

**"They'll never forget about us. Jeb wasn't supposed to take us out of there," I reminded the Gasman. **

**"Jeb knew they would do anything to get us back. If anyone ever discovered what they did to us, it would be the end of the School," Fang explained. **

**"Why don't we tell on them, then?" Nudge demanded. "We could go to a TV station and tell everyone and say, Look, they grew wings on us, and we're just little kids, and-" **

**"Okay, that would fix them," Iggy interrupted. "But we'd end up in a zoo." **

**"Well, what are we gonna do, then?" The Gasman was starting to sound panicky. **

**Fang had gotten up and left the room, and now he returned, holding a sheaf of yellowed, fading papers. The edges looked nibbled, and he shook some mouse poop off.**

Nudge and Ella wrinkled their noses. "Eww," they said almost simultaneously.

Iggy looked at the next line and laughed.

**"Eew," said Nudge,**

Almost everyone laughed at the similarities.

** wiping her nose on her sleeve. "Eew. Was that-" **

**"Here," said Fang, pushing the papers at me. **

**They were Jeb's ancient printed-out files. After he disappeared, we'd cleared off his desk and shoved everything in the back of a closet so we wouldn't have to look at it all the time.**

**We spread the papers out on the kitchen table. Just looking at them made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Not to mention the strong eau de mouse. I'd rather have been doing anything but.**

Normally Dr. Martinez would say something about Max's grammar, but she was lost in her thoughts.

**Fang started to sift through the pile. He found a large manila envelope, sealed with a clump of wax. After looking at me, catching my nod, he popped the wax with his thumbnail. **

**"What is that?" asked the Gasman. **

**"Map," Fang said, pulling out a faded topographical drawing. **

**"Map of what?" Nudge leaned closer, peering over Fang's shoulder. **

**"Map of a secret facility," I said, feeling my stomach clench. I'd hoped I'd never have to see it again, never break that wax seal. "In California. The School.**

"Duh duh duh..." Iggy whispered to end the chapter, condemning himself to another whack for disturbing the reverent silence. "Oh come on, guys," he protested, "we can be solemn in the worst parts, but we know we all lived through this,"

"Speak for yourself," Ari and Fang chorused.

"Well, we're all alive now. So why don't we let the mood lift and have some fun with this?" Iggy persisted.

Hesitantly, Angel spoke up. "Iggy's right. I mean, everything's okay now so we should be able to enjoy this. There's so much we don't know and that's the whole reason for reading these books."

"True, true. Like, what does the voice sound like? When did it first appear? What were you boys doing when we were touring Europe? What really happened when Max first meet Ella and Dr. M, and how did Fang get his gang together? We should just treat the whole thing like a big happy memory. Not always happy, but you know what I mean," Nudge said.

The aforementioned 'Fang gang', the flock, and Ella thought about that, then one by one nodded in agreement.

"So, cheerful mood and having fun! Great, great! Before we move on to reading, I have an announcement," Dr. M told everyone.

AN: Well then, there you are. I wonder what Dr. M has to say? Oh wait, I already know. ;) Until next time! Reviews help me update faster!


	7. Announcement and chapter 11

Chapter 7

AN: O.o I hit 700 hits. 700 HITS! XDD And not even fifteen reviews. :( Oh, well. I don't own rights to any of the awesome games mentioned in this chapter. However, I do own some of them. Okay, where we left off...

"So, cheerful mood and having fun! Great, great! Before we move on to reading, I have an announcement," Dr. M told everyone.

"What?" Max asked.

"Well, this book has shown me how, err, strange your childhood was,"

Iggy coughed. "Hck, hck, understatement."

Ella gave him a sharp poke in the ribs.

"So, while we read the books, we'll do normal things so you can experience a regular life," Dr. M said brightly.

"You know, we weren't that strange. We had the internet, TV, that stuff. What exactly could we have missed?" Nudge asked.

"Have you ever had a sleepover?" Ella asked.

Nudge shook her head.

"Played truth or dare, or would you rather?" Ella persisted.

Nudge shook her head again.

"Painted your nails, played sports, tried games like Apples to Apples or Monopoly?" Ella kept going, listing more things.

Nudge was occasionally nodding, but mostly she kept shaking her head.

Dr. M smiled. "My case in point."

Max shrugged. "I don't see any harm."

Agreement sounded through the room.

"How about we do something after we try out the whole 'cheerful while reading' thing?" Ella suggested.

Max shrugged in agreement.

Dr. M picked up the book and turned to where they left off.

**Chapter 11 **

**"Whaaat?" the Gasman squeaked.**

"Squeaked? Are you sure you have bird DNA, not some sort of rodent?" Ratchet teased.

Gazzy crossed his arms and pouted.

**Iggy went even paler than normal, if possible.**

**"That's where they took Angel," I said. "And that's where we have to go to get her back."**

**"Oh," said Nudge, her brain hitting overdrive. "Yeah. We have to go get Angel back. We can't let her stay there-with them. They're-monsters. They're going to do bad things to her. And put her in a cage. Hurt her. But there's five of us. So the rest of us have to go get hmph- "**

"Bets on who covered her mouth?" Sam called. Nudge sulked.

"Iggy," Ella bet.

"Max," Maya called.

"Iggy," Holden agreed.

"I'll go on a limb and say Gazzy," Ratchet decided.

"Definitely Iggy," Kate decided.

"Max," Star decided.

"Can I guess?" Angel asked.

"No, you could mind read," Fang answered.

Angel pouted.

**I had wrapped my hand across her mouth.**

"Woo-hoo!" Maya cheered.

"You know we didn't actually bet anything, don't you?" Star asked, amused.

It was Maya's turn to sulk and everyone else's turn to laugh.

**She peeled my fingers apart. "Uh, how far is it?"**

**"Six hundred miles, more or less," Fang said. "At least a seven-hour flight, not including breaks."**

**"Can we discuss this?" Iggy asked, not turning his head. "We're way outnumbered."**

**"No." I scanned the map, already working out routes, rest stops, backup plans.**

**"Can we take a vote? They had guns. And a chopper." There was an edge in Iggy's voice.**

**"Iggy. This is not a democracy," I said, understanding his fear but unable to do anything about it. "It's a Maxocracy. You know we have to go after Angel. You can't be thinking that we would just let them take her. The six of us look out for one another-no matter what. None of us is ever going to live in a cage again, not while I'm alive." I took a deep breath.**

**"But actually, Nudge, Fang, and I are going after Angel. You and the Gasman-I need you to stay here. Hold down the fort. On the off chance Angel escapes and makes her way home."**

**There was a moment of dead silence.**

"Nooo, the silence is dead! Why is the silence dead!" Iggy moaned, dramatically falling on the floor. Unfortunately for him, he landed on Akila. The Malamute gave a yelp of surprise and rolled out from underneath the bird boy.

"Akila, are you alright?" Total asked urgently. Akila gave a woof. Total turned on Iggy, giving him a glare and a growl.

"Oops?" Iggy offered up weakly, sitting back on the couch.

Total huffed. He and Akila walked to sit on the other side of Dr. Martinez's legs, away from falling blind bird boys.

**"You are so full of it," said Iggy, turning toward me. "That's not why you want us here. Why don't you just say it?"**

**Tension was making my stomach hurt. I didn't have time for this. No-Angel didn't have time for this.**

**"Okay," I said, trying for a placating tone. "It's true. I don't want you to come. The fact is, you're blind, and while you're a great flyer around here where you know everything, I can't be worrying about you in the middle of a firefight with the Erasers."**

**Iggy's face twisted in anger. He opened his mouth but got cut off.**

**"What about me?" the Gasman squealed.**

"Aww, is the Rat scared? Hey, that fits. 'The Rat'. It has a nice ring to it. How are you, Ra," Ratchet was cut off by a small purple cloud drifting to him. Ratchet gagged.

"Can a rat do that?" Gazzy asked proudly.

Still gagging, Ratchet hopped the stinky bird boy so as to hide behind Hatchet. The cloud of stank slowly followed him.

"Why is it stalking me?" Ratchet asked, cowering behind his living shield.

"'Cause it's sticky," the Gasman answered proudly.

Eyes crossing, Ratchet began choking.

"Don't worry," Nudge tried to reassure him, "the, er, fart cloud will disappear eventually. You just have to wait it out. You'll see, it'll be over soon. It just feels like forever because of how awfully stinky it,"

Ratchet fell off the couch and hit the floor in a faint.

"Or your heightened sense of smell will cause you to panic and pass out from over exposure to horrible gaseous smells," Nudge concluded.

"That's my thesaurus-reading girl," Max gave Nudge a smile, which was quickly returned.

Ratchet groaned and woke up. He sat back on the couch, being careful to keep Hatchet between him and his stinky tormentor.

Laughing, Gazzy imitated Ratchet's fall off the couch.

"For Pete's sake, what is it with you boys and falling off the couch?" Max asked peevishly.

Not missing a beat, Ari promptly tipped over the edge of the couch. He was quickly followed by a large thud made by Iggy falling again, two smaller thuds from Gazzy and Holden, and Fang using the couch as a diving board so he could do a swan dive.

Max groaned, massaging her forehead. She reached down and pulled her boyfriend and half-brother onto the couch by their shirt necks. Across the room, Ella did the same with Iggy. After a quick set of glares, Ratchet gingerly took up Holden and Gazzy.

"Can we read now?" Dr. M asked, utterly exasperated.

"Like mother, like daughter," Iggy told Ella in a stage whisper.

Dr. Martinez growled at him, proving him correct while still scaring him.

"Okay, continue," Iggy said nervously, correctly guessing the reason for the growl.

**"I don't care if they have guns and a chopper and Erasers. She's my sister."**

"Aww, Gaz," Angel said happily. She loved her blood brother and it felt really good to see how much he loved her too, without having to do any mind reading.

**"That's right. And if they want her so bad, they might want you just as bad," I pointed out. "Plus, you're a great flyer, but you're eight years old, and we're going to be logging major hours."**

**"Jeb would never have made us stay," Iggy said angrily. "Never. Ever."**

**I pressed my lips together. I was doing the best I could. "Maybe not," I admitted. "We'll never know. Jeb's dead. **

"Zombie scientist," Ari put his hands out in traditional zombie fashion, crossed his eyes, and let his tongue loll out of his mouth.

"How do you know about zombies?" Elle asked, half curious and half amused.

"Scary in-flight movies on the helicopters while on those long cross country journeys to find and destroy the flock," Ari answered as if it should be the most obvious reason.

Elle rolled her eyes. "Of course," she said, voice practically dripping with sarcasm.

**Now everyone get your gear together."**

"And that's the end. Anyone have any ideas on what we should play first?" Dr. M asked.

"How about that 'Tell or Do' game?" Gazzy suggested.

"You mean Truth or Dare?" Ella asked, highly amused.

"Sure," Gazzy gave a shrug.

An: Typically, I don't put a An at the end, but this time I will. If you have any suggestions for the ToD, put 'em in a review!


	8. Truth or dare

Chapter 8

"Okay, here's how to play Truth or dare," Ella began," we pick one person to start the game. They ask "Truth or Dare?" of a second person. The second person picks between answering a question and performing a dare. Then, the first person asks a question or presents a dare. Both the questions and the dares should be embarrassing, but not mean or really dangerous."

"Or even sort of dangerous," Dr. Martinez added.

Ella rolled her eyes at her mom's caution. "Everyone will have to answer or perform eventually, so keep that in mind while you ask or dare. We continue the game by having the person who just told the truth or did the dare ask "Truth or Dare?" of another person. Got it?"

"Sure. Who'll start?" Iggy asked.

"How about..." Ella paused as Nudge shot up her hand. "Nudge, you can start."

"Yay!" Nudge exclaimed. "Okay, well, I've been wondering this for a while, and I want to know,"

"Nudge, Ella said you have to ask 'Truth or Dare' first," Angel reminded.

"Oh, right," Nudge said, "well then, Elle, truth or dare?"

Elle hesitated. "Truth."

"If Sam's good with techno-stuff and words, what's your special talent?" Nudge asked.

Elle thought for a moment, then said "I don't really have a special talent,"

"Liar," Sam interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Elle protested.

"You're just being really humble, and you know it," Sam scolded.

Elle humphed. "Fine," she said, "I'm a decent singer."

"Decent?" Sam scoffed, "You're awesome!"

"Whatever," Elle said, "my turn. Dylan, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Dylan replied.

"Drop a flowerpot on your head," Elle deadpanned.

Dylan's face wrinkled in confusion. "What?" he asked, not believing his ears.

"Drop a flowerpot on your head," Elle repeated.

"What happened to no violence?" Dr. Martinez demanded.

"Well, I can self-heal, so it wouldn't really be a problem," Dylan said thoughtfully.

"Exactly," Elle said, nodding, "I want to see you heal yourself."

"Fine," Dr. Martinez sighed.

"Do you guys even have any flowerpots?" Dylan asked.

Dr. M shook her head.

"Then do you have any bricks or heavy stones?" Elle said.

"We have a microwave!" Ella said excitedly.

"NO," Dr. M said firmly, "we are NOT dropping a microwave on Dylan's head."

"Then what are you dropping?" Dylan asked.

"How about," Max began.

"An elephant?" Iggy suggested.

"A blue whale?" Ratchet said, laughing.

"I was going to say, how about that clay bowl in the kitchen that doesn't hold anything?" Max said.

"Ella made that in third grade!" Dr. Martinez protested.

"It won't break, it'll be fine," Max reassured.

"Alright, but be careful," Dr. M cautioned.

Elle ran to the kitchen, grabbed the aforementioned bowl, and ran back as Dylan stood up, ready for his task. She handed the bowl to Dylan, who looked at it.

"Go on," Gazzy encouraged, holding back his laughs.

Dylan raised the bowl and promptly dropped it on his head.

BONG! The bowl vibrated, cracked, and fell off Dylan's head, leaving a few small scratches and a very dizzy Dylan.

"Max!" Dr. Martinez scolded.

"I thought it wouldn't break! You can glue it!" Max said.

Ella laughed and said "Please don't fix it, I've been trying to get rid of it for years" to general laughter.

Dylan wobbled, regained some of his composure, and licked his finger. He dragged the wet finger along a scratch. It shrunk, pulled into the skin, and disappeared.

"Awesome!" Elle and Sam cheered. Dylan repeated the process on his other scratches and sat down quickly, still very dizzy, while Elle picked up the pieces of what once was a bowl and handed the parts to Dr. M.

"Dylan, who do you want to dare?" Gazzy asked.

Dylan shook his head quickly a couple times to clear it.

"Can we do a double dare?" he asked.

"Sure," Ella said with a shrug.

"Max and Maya, truth or dare," Dylan asked.

Maya and Max looked at each other, uncertainty in their eyes. An unspoken conversation took place quickly, both girls coming to the same conclusion.

"Dare," Maya announced.

"Do the copying thing where you act like you're looking in a mirror and you do the same thing at the same time while facing each other," Dylan said.

Max and Maya stood up and faced each other. Max began with stepping forward and Maya stepped back. Maya tilted her head to the left and Max mirrored her by tilting her head to the right. They turned all the way around and faced each other again, starting to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Max put her right hand up high in the air and Maya did the same with her left.

After a few minutes, Dylan was satisfied. "That's enough," he said loudly.

The dared girls sat down, laughing.

"Who gets to dare?" Max asked.

Ella shrugged. "Why don't you rock-paper-scissors?"

They faced each other, pounded their closed hands into their other palms twice, and chose a position. Max chose paper, Maya took scissors.

"Dang, can we do two out of three?" Max asked.

"If you want to get your butt kicked more," Maya said devilishly.

Max rolled her eyes. "Deal."

They rock-paper-scissored again. Max chose scissors, Maya had the same.

They did rock-paper-scissors a third time. Max took paper, Maya chose rock.

"Whose butt is getting kicked now?" Max gloated.

"It's tied, we have to go one more time," Maya said.

They rock-paper-scissored for the fourth time. Max had scissors again, Maya won with another rock.

"Fine," Max sighed.

"Okay, I get to go. Ella?" Maya asked.

"Truth," she said decisively.

"What is the longest you have gone without taking a bath or a shower?" Maya asked.

"About... two weeks?" Ella offered up sheepishly.

"Ella!" her mother exclaimed.

"It was when you had that vets conference and Grandma stayed with me. She didn't care and neither did I," Ella protested.

Dr. M laughed and let it go.

"Iggy, truth or dare?" Ella asked.

Iggy thought for a moment and answered with a smirk 'truth'.

"If you could trade lives with another person you know for one week who would it be and why?" Ella asked.

Iggy cocked his head to one side and thought. "Probably Angel, I could see and read other people's minds," he grinned.

"That's the last thing I need, a mind-reading Iggy," Max groaned.

"Fang, truth or dare?" Iggy said sweetly.

He chewed on the inside of his cheek, indecisive on what would be less embarrassing. "Dare," he said.

"Oo, dare. Um, sing a song you really don't like," Iggy told him.

"Which song? There are several songs I don't like," Fang said.

"Suggestions?" Iggy said. (An: places these songs (and others) can be found will be at the bottom)

"How about 'I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor'?" Star suggested.

"'Puff the Magic dragon'!" Angel yelled.

"We three kings parody!" Gazzy called.

"Baby, Baby!" Ratchet shouted.

"Go bananas!" Nudge yelled excitedly, beginning to chant under her breath 'pick banana, pick pick banana'.

"I've got it," Sam announced, "Fang should sing 'There's a badger in the outhouse'!"

"Yes, you have to!" Elle said.

"Alright Fang, stand up and sing 'There's a badger in the outhouse'," Iggy told him.

"I don't know the words," he protested.

"Give me a moment I'll write them down and get the background music up on YouTube," Sam said.

Fang sulked while Sam and Elle did just that.

"Here you go," Sam said brightly, handing Fang the lyrics she had written.

Giving her a death glare, Fang began to sing in a low, quiet voice.

"Start over, sing louder, and give it some expression," Iggy ordered.

Fang sighed and complied. (for best results go to the bottom and get the music)

_"My grandma had an outhouse on our little family farm _The laughing began and Fang sulked even more.

_You'd reach it by the foot path, beside the old red barn _

_When I was just a little boy, I remember oh so well_ "You remember an outhouse 'oh so well'?" Gazzy asked.

_How that little shed played a starring role in a story we still tell_

Fang glared at the laughers and started the next verse.

_Well Grandma was headed for the outhouse with some corncobs in a pail_

_When yonder came a badger, a waddlin' down the trail_

_They met up at the well house, and Grandma gave a yell_

_Then the badger shot through the outhouse door, and from there things went to_ (Fang paused just long enough for some tension but not long enough for Dr. M to yell at him for alluding to a swear word)_ welll…_

Fang took on the chorus, complete with a western hill-Billie accent.

_There's a badger in the outhouse, and Grandma's gotta go_

_She's yellin' for the shotgun and hoppin' to and fro_

_Oh the barnyard's all a-flutter, hens flappin' all about_

_And Grandma's gonna blow a gasket if that critter don't get out_

Fang stopped a second, trying to regain his composure, and went on to the next verse.

_So I brought her Pa's old shotgun and a pocket full of shells_

_She tore off down the foot path, and I hid behind the well_ "How manly," Gazzy laughed.

_She swore she'd get that varmint out and thus regain her throne _Snickers abounded.

_But the badger hissed and bared his teeth; he'd claimed it for his own_

Sam, Elle, Iggy, Ella, Gazzy, and Angel joined him on the chorus.

_There's a badger in the outhouse, and Grandma's gotta go_

_She's yellin' for the shotgun and hoppin' to and fro_

_Oh the barnyard's all a-flutter, hens flappin' all about_

_And Grandma's gonna blow a gasket if that critter don't get out _

The extra singers died off. Fang stopped singing and just spoke.

_Now Grandma wasn't thinkin' straight, she really had to go_

_That badger'd just plain got her goat on that morning long ago_

_When the shootin' stopped and the smoke cleared, her outhouse was no more_

_The roof was in the pasture and the walls lay by the floor_

_The door was shot to splinters, the stool blown to the ground_

_Then I saw that badger clear the fence on a bee-line to his mound_

Everyone joined in for the final chorus.

_There's a badger in the outhouse, and Grandma's gotta go_

_She's yellin' for the shotgun and hoppin' to and fro_

_Oh the barnyard's all a-flutter, hens flappin' all about_

_And Grandma's gonna blow a gasket if that critter don't get out." _

Fang finished the song with a long drawl and took a bow to the cheers and laughter.

"Oh my word, that was so, so awesome!" Nudge said excitedly.

"Max, your boyfriend has a great voice," Ella said seriously.

Max and Fang blushed.

"Well, it's about time for supper, so why don't we eat and read another chapter before bed?" Dr. Martinez suggested, saving Max from embarrassment.

An: And that's all! Here are the songs, replace the word (dot) with an actual period because Fanfiction deletes it otherwise.

'I'm being swallowed'- http:/bussongs(dot)com/songs/im_being_swallowed_by_a_boa_constrictor(dot)php

'Puff the magic dragon'- http:/bussongs(dot)com/songs/puff_magic_dragon(dot)php

'Go bananas'- http:/www(dot)boyscouttrail(dot)com/content/song/song-614(dot)asp

'We three kings parody' (you can replace rubber with other words per chorus(pink, silly, fluffy, etc))- http:/www(dot)links2love(dot)com/christmas-we-three-kings-parody(dot)htm

And finally... 'There's a badger in the outhouse'- http:/www (dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=iBGZ_NYBids


	9. Supper

AN: I make you wait forever for a new chapter and what do you get? A FILLER! *people shriek in horror* Sorry, I kind of got writer's block. *shudder* That awful, awful thing.

Chapter 9

Heading to the kitchen, there was many laughs and discussions.

"I think I've found a new favorite game," Nudge proclaimed.

"Me too," Angel said happily.

"Truth or dare was already my favorite," Kate informed the others, "I used to play it all the time."

"Why didn't you keep playing it?" Ella asked.

Kate just looked at her pointedly for a moment.

"Right," Ella said, embarrassed. "The mutant-outcast thing."

"Who wants what for supper?" Iggy asked.

"Can we have spaghetti?" Nudge asked.

"I want tacos!" Holden said.

"Why not both?" Dr. Martinez suggested.

"Yeah!" Elle cheered.

As Iggy and Dr. M made supper, the rest sat around and chatted. Eventually, they got into a discussion about what game they should play next.

"Any ideas?" Max asked.

"Karaoke," Star said.

"Extreme would-you-rather!" Sam said excitedly.

"We should do a more active game, maybe grounders?" Ella suggested.

"How would we play grounders without a playground?" Star asked.

"We could set up some sort of obstacles to use. Rocks, dead logs, we are hiding out in the middle of a forest," Elle said thoughtfully.

"I'd rather play 'Honey if you love me'," Kate said.

Fang whispered to Max "Where do they get these games?"

"Oh yes! We have to play that!" Elle said excitedly.

"Yeah, that's what we're playing next," Sam said.

After a while, the food was ready. They ate, talked, and laughed. Once everyone had finished, the dishes were piled into the dishwasher and everyone trooped back into the living room. They sat in their original spots and Holden picked up the book.

**Part two: Hotel California, sort of. Chapter 12 **He read.


	10. Chapters 12, 13, and 14

AN: To make up for the filler, here's an extra-long, extra-quick chapter!

**Part two: Hotel California, sort of. Chapter 12**

**"We clear on Plan B?" I asked, raising my voice so Fang and Nudge could hear me over the roar of the wind.**

**We were headed into the sun, south-southwest. Leaving the Sangre de Cristo Mountains behind, streaking through the sky at a steady ninety miles an hour. If we hit a nice air current, we could add twenty miles per hour to our speed. The glory of flight.**

"That sounds so cool," Ella said, a little jealously.

**Fang nodded. Glory, is he ever the strong and silent type.**

"But he's getting less so," Max said.

Iggy laughed. "Hey Fang, Max just called you weak."

"I meant he's talking more, and you know it," Max said.

Fang rolled his eyes and, just to annoy Max, kept quiet.**  
><strong>

**"Uh-huh," said Nudge. "If we get separated somehow-though I don't see how we could, unless maybe one of us gets lost in a cloud or something-do you think that could happen? I haven't ever been inside a cloud. I bet it's creepy. Can you see anything inside a cloud-"**

**I shot her a look. She paused, then quickly finished, "We meet up at the northmost point of Lake Mead." **

**I nodded. "And where's the School?" **

**"In Death Valley, eight miles due north from the Badwater Basin." Her mouth opened to add more, but I raised my eyebrows at her. I love Nudge, Nudge is a great kid, but that motormouth of hers could have turned Mother Teresa into an ax murderer. **

Cue much laughter. Nudge pouted, but good-naturedly joined in.

**"You got it," I said. "Good job." Did you hear that address? Could the School be located in a more perfect place? Death Valley. Above the Badwater Basin. Like, when we got there, we'd see a road paved with good intentions and have to cross the river Styx to get in. Wouldn't surprise me. **

"Fitful," Star commented scornfully.

**The wind was undoing my braid, and chunks of long hair whipped annoyingly across my face. _Note to_**_** self: Cut hair short.** _

"But I like it long," Fang whined jokingly.

Max mock-gasped. "You can talk!"

Fang gently whacked her on the top of her head.

**The Gasman and Iggy had been none-too-happy campers when we'd left, **

"We kind of had reason to," Gazzy said.**  
><strong>

**but I thought I'd made the right decision. That was the problem with this leader stuff. It didn't come with an instruction manual. Given what Angel was facing, their being unhappy was the least of my concerns. **

**I glanced over at Fang and saw that his face looked serene, almost-well, not exactly happy, Fang's never happy-but just really calm. I edged closer to him. **

**"On the plus side, flying is just really, really cool," I said, and he looked at me with a half smile of understanding. His dark wings moved powerfully, glinting faintly purple in the sunlight. The wind was whistling in our ears; we could see everything for miles. It was like being God. I imagine. **

**Oh, yeah. "On the minus side, we're mutant freaks who will never live a normal life." **

**Fang shrugged. "Win some, lose some." **

**I was too upset to laugh**

The readers had no such qualms.

** but gave a wry smile and looked over at Nudge. She was three years younger than us but was holding her own. Like all of us, she was tall for her age, and skinny, probably weighing no more than sixty pounds, thanks to her strong, light bird bones. **

"The bird kid physique is to die for," Ella said with a dramatic sigh.

**Ninety miles an hour wasn't fast enough. The "scientists" at the School could do a lot of damage in seven hours. Even so, I knew we'd have to take a break before we got there. If we were going to hit the School, we'd need to be rested, not hungry. **

**I checked my watch-we'd been skyborne for a good two hours. I was already feeling empty, a little shaky. Flying burned energy like nothing else, and after a long flight, I felt like I could eat a cow. Fork optional. **

"Eww," Kate complained.

**Even needing to get to Angel, we couldn't forget the basic necessity of eating. **

**"Max?" Nudge's big eyes, the same tawny russet as her wings, looked over at me. "I was thinking-" **

"Oh, glory," Max, Iggy, Gazzy, and Fang groaned simultaneously.

"What, is this pick on Nudge chapter or something? I'm not that bad anymore, am I?" Nudge protested.

**_Here we go._**

**"I mean, right before we left? I just looked at Jeb's old files, you know? And some of them were about us. Or me. I saw my name on a page, my real name, Monique,**

"How do you know that?" Dr. Martinez asked.

"When we were at the school the first time, we were so young the whitecoats didn't really care about us overhearing them. They talked a lot about us, either calling us by our numbers or by our 'real' names. Nudge's given name is Monique, Iggy's is Aiden, which we found funny because it means fire, and Fang's is Ethan. We didn't hear Gazzy's, Angel's, or mine," Max explained.

"Well, if I hadn't given you up, I probably would have named you Isabelle, or Gabriela," Dr. Martinez said fondly.

"Aww," Iggy and Ratchet said together in a babyish tone.

"Watch it, you two," Max said calmly.

Holden decided that he would keep reading, to spare Iggy and Ratchet from Max's wrath.

** and then, like, some people's names, and then-Tipisco, Arizona. Tipisco is right on the Arizona-California border-I found it on the map. Real tiny town, it looked like. Anyway, I was thinking, none of us ever knew our real parents, and, you know, we've always wondered, or at least I mean I've always wondered, but I guess the rest of you have too, like, whether they gave me up voluntarily or whether-" **

**"Nudge. I know how you feel. But those names might not have anything to do with you. We don't know if we were just test-tube babies or what. Please. Let's focus on rescuing Angel." **

**No response. **

"Le gasp!" Gazzy cried.**  
><strong>

**"Nudge?" **

**"Yeah, okay. I was just thinking." **

**I knew this one was going to come back and bite me in the butt. **

"And that's the chapter," Holden said.**  
><strong>

"One more before bed, please Mom?" Ella begged.

"Alright, but just one," Dr. Martinez said firmly.

Happily, Holden passed the book to Gazzy.**  
><strong>

**13**

Gazzy stopped dead. "I can't read this."

"Is it," Max trailed off as Gazzy nodded. Angel gulped, back in her own chair but still close to Max.

"I'll take it, you can have it tomorrow," Ratchet grabbed the book.**  
><strong>

**Her mouth was so dry. Her head ached-everything ached. Angel blinked several times, trying to wake up. Above her was a dark brown plastic roof. A cage. A dog crate. A Kanine Kamper, size medium.**

"Do I want to know how you know that?" Dr. Martinez asked cautiously.**  
><strong>

** Fuzzy thoughts pushed at her brain as she struggled to a sitting position. She knew where she was-she would recognize that chemical, disinfectant smell anywhere. She was at the School. **

Ratchet paused. "The next bit is underlined, that must mean it's thoughts."**  
><strong>

**New new 'n' wings and new new wings girl new**

** Quickly, Angel turned in the direction of the thoughts. **

**In a crate next to hers were two other children, younger than she. Their eyes, too big for their hungry faces, locked onto her. **

**"Hi," Angel whispered. She didn't feel any whitecoats around-just the scrambled, incoherent thoughts of these kids. **

"More thoughts," Ratchet said.**  
><strong>

**Mouth noise girl wings new new **

**The other children stared without answering. Trying to smile, Angel looked at them more closely. She thought they were both boys. One had rough, scaly skin-literally scaly, like a fish, but just in patches, not all over. Not a happy effect. **

**The other one just looked like . . . a mistake. He had extra fingers and toes, and hardly any neck. His eyes were huge and bulging, and the hair on his head was sparse. It made Angel's heart hurt just to look at him. **

"Oh," Ella said softly.**  
><strong>

**"I'm Angel," she whispered again. "Do you have names?" **

Ratchet said "Guess what? More thoughts."**  
><strong>

**Noise noise bad girl wings bad noise **

**The two boys looked afraid, and they turned from her and edged farther back in their cage. **

**Angel swallowed hard and was quiet. What had happened to Max and the others? Were they in cages too? **

**A door opened and footsteps sounded on the linoleum floor. **

"No, no, no," Angel was chanting under her breath.**  
><strong>

**Angel felt the caged boys trembling with dread, crazed, swirling thoughts of fear crashing in their brains. They huddled together at the back of their cage. But the two whitecoats stopped in front of Angel's. **

**"Oh, my word-Harrison was right," one whitecoat said, hunching down to stare at Angel through the grate. "They got her! Do you know how long I've wanted to get my hands on this one?" He turned excitedly to the other whitecoat. "Did you ever read the Director's precept report about this recombinant group?" **

**"Yeah, but I wasn't sure I believed it," said the other whitecoat, a woman. "Are you saying this is Subject Eleven? This little girl?" **

**The first whitecoat rubbed his hands together with glee. "You're looking at it." He leaned forward to unhook her cage door. "Come on, little thing. You're wanted in lab seven." **

Ratchet paused. "Thoughts again."

**Oh, yes! Man, when I section her brain . . .**

Angel shivered and Max patted her on the back comfortingly.**  
><strong>

**Angel winced, then rough hands dragged her out. **

**Pathetic relief washed through the boys that it was she who was being taken and not them. **

**Angel didn't blame them one bit.**

"Okay, we have to read another chapter," Gazzy said.

Dr. M took one look at Angel and nodded. Gazzy grabbed the book and quickly glanced over the chapter, making sure of the point of view. Satisfied that it wasn't about Angel, he began.**  
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**14 **

**"Max? I'm starving." **

Angel breathed a sigh of relief. She wouldn't have to deal with the School for a while now.**  
><strong>

**I had been ignoring my own ferociously growling innards for half an hour. There was no way I was going to break first-and give Fang the satisfaction? I don't think so. **

"Stubborn as ever," Fang fondly whispered into Max's ear.**  
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**But I did have an obligation, as leader, to take care of Nudge. As much as I hated to stop and lose time, it was a reality. **

**"Okay, okay. We need food." How's that for incisive leadership? "Fang! We need to refuel. Ideas?" **

**Fang pondered. It always amazes me how he's able to seem so calm at the absolute worst times. Sometimes he seems like a droid-or a drone. Fang of Nine. Fang2-D2. **

"How do you guys know about that?" Ella asked.

"We aren't completely uncultured," Max said in a snotty voice. Then in her normal voice she said "YouTube and Netflix."

Ella just laughed.**  
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**Below us were mountains-the San Francisco Peaks, according to our map. **

**Our glances met-it was creepy how we knew what each other was thinking so much of the time. "Ski slopes," I said, and he nodded. "Summertime. Empty vacation houses."**

**"Would they have _food_?" Nudge asked. **

"Hooray for food!" Elle said. Judging by the shocked looks she got, everyone had almost forgotten about her and Sam. "Don't mind me."**  
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**"Let's go find out," I said. **

**We flew in a big circle around the edge of the mountains. Small towns that came alive in winter dotted the foothills. I led us away from them, to where a few homes stood like train-set models among the trees. One house was apart from the others. No cars parked outside, no smoke coming from the chimney. Nobody home? **

**I banked and slowed, tucked my wings in a bit, and started to drop. **

**We landed a hundred yards away. As usual, after flying for hours, my legs felt a tad rubbery. I shook them out, then folded my warm wings in tight against my body. **

**Nudge and Fang did the same. **

**We crept quietly through the woods. No signs of life. The porch was covered with pine needles, the driveway hadn't been used, the shrubbery was way overgrown. **

**I gave Nudge the thumbs-up, and she smiled, though, amazingly, she stayed quiet. _Bless you, child._**

"Bless you, bleeeess you," Iggy intoned seriously.

Nudge groaned.**  
><strong>

**A quick reconnaissance revealed no alarm system I could see. No red lights blinking inside for motion detectors. This wasn't a big fancy house worth alarming, anyway. It was just a teeny-tiny vacation cottage. **

**With my pocketknife I slit a window screen and unhooked the latch. The screen lifted off easily, and I set it carefully against the side of the house: A thoughtful burglar, that's me. **

**Then Fang and I shook the old wooden window frame until the lock at the top jiggled open. Fang climbed in first, then I boosted Nudge in, then I scrambled in and shut the window. **

**Dust covered everything. The fridge was turned off, its door open. I started opening kitchen cupboards. "Bingo," I said, holding up a dusty can of soup. **

**"Oh, yeah, pay dirt, woo-hoo!" Cans of beans, fruit, condensed milk, whatever that was-it sounded bad. The ever-popular ravioli. "We're golden!" **

**Fang found some dusty bottles of orange soda, and we popped those suckers open. But let me tell you -there's a reason people serve that stuff cold. **

Ella made a face. "Warm pop tastes nasty."**  
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**Half an hour later, we were sprawled on the musty couches, our eyes at half- mast, our bellies way too full. **

"You're drowsy aren't you?" Dr. Ma asked resignedly. Max's sheepish look was all the answer she needed.**  
><strong>

**"Uhhnnhh," Nudge moaned. "I feel like, like concrete." **

**"Let's take ten, rest a bit," Fang said, closing his eyes. He lay back against the couch and crossed his long legs. "Digest a minute, we'll feel better." **

**"I second that emotion,"**

"Don't you mean 'motion'?" Maya asked, laughing.**  
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** I muttered, my own eyes closing. _We're coming, Angel. In a minute._**

"No you're not," Iggy said.

"We did eventually get there," Max protested.

"Eventually," Gazzy said.**  
><strong>

Max opened her mouth to protest but Angel cut her off.

"It's okay, you had," Angel gave Ella a significant look, "other things to think about."

"Thanks, Ange," Max said.

"Okay, now it's bedtime," Dr. Martinez said firmly.

Everyone got up and stretched, getting ready to go to their rooms. Nudge had a room with Angel and Ella, Iggy and Gazzy shared, Dylan was with Fang, Ratchet and Holden had a room, Max was with Maya, Star and Kate had a room, and Dr. Martinez had her own room (but the dogs often slept in there).

"Um, where should we sleep?" Sam asked.

"Ari can stay with Iggy and Gazzy, and you two," Max trailed off in thought.

"How about Sam sleeps in our room and Elle can stay in Star and Kate's," Ella suggested.

Sam, Ari, and Elle looked at each other.

"That sounds good," Ari said.

Elle shrugged. "It's cool with me."

They all headed off to their rooms, saying their respective good-nights.


	11. Bedtime stories and bedtime bombs

AN: SHE'S ALIVE! I was on vacation far away for a while, then life just kept rushing by. So, my update is very delayed. There's a lot of important info in this chapter for people who want to know anything about my OC's. Also, I update a loooooot faster if I'm motivated. *cough, cough* reviews *cough, cough*

"So, you and Sam are good friends?" Kate asked as they made up a bed on the floor for Elle.

"Best friends. We have three other best friends in our group, like a mini-flock, but they didn't come," Elle explained.

"Are they mutants too?" Star asked.

Elle nodded, putting down a spare pillow she had found.

"What are they and what are they like?" Kate asked.

"Cathy is part cat; she has great reflexes, retractable claws underneath her fingernails, and night vision. She's kind of crazy and really funny. Eva is our calming voice of reason, but still goes along with most of what we come up with. She has x-ray vision, but almost never uses it for obvious reasons. Alexa is basically an octopus. With just a thought she can split her arms and legs in half and all eight limbs will still be fully functional," Elle explained.

"Wow, we should try that on Holden," Star said, impressed.

Kate whacked her on the back of the head.

"What? He'd be fine," Star protested.

"Still," Kate said firmly, "it's the principle of the thing."

"And besides, I don't think it would work quite right," Elle added.

Kate groaned and buried her head in her hands.

BOOM!

The three girls jumped up,

"What was that?" Elle exclaimed.

"Let's find out," Star declared.

They raced out to investigate the explosion.

Earlier... 

"So," Ella said, sitting on her bed. It was the lower bunk in her and Nudge's bunkbed and opposite from Angel's little bed.

"What?" Sam asked.

"So what's your story?" Ella asked.

Seeing the confused look on Sam's face, Angel elaborated. "She means, so how come are you and Elle mutants?"

"Well, it's a lot like Star and Kate, from what I know of them. We were walking and talking with our other friends, Cathy, Alexa, and Eva. We were going to go to a movie later, and we were discussing our plans for the rest of the day. Suddenly, Elle just crumpled to the ground. Then Cathy went down, then Alexa, then Eva," Sam explained.

"What happened?" Nudge asked.

"That's exactly what I was thinking. I turned around and saw a muscular man holding a dart gun only about five feet behind me. I ducked, but his next dart hit me in the shoulder and everything started swirling. Then I fell and the world went red, then black," Sam said.

"Let me guess, the man was an Eraser?" Nudge asked. "Or was he a scientist or something?"

"I really don't know but I think he was an Eraser," Sam said thoughtfully.

"Go on with the story," Angel said.

"I woke up probably an hour later in the back of a truck, hands and feet tied together. Everyone else was already awake and tied as well. We talked worriedly for a while, but eventually ran out of things to say. About two or three hours after I woke up, we arrived at the School. We were split up at that point," Sam said softly.

"Who went where?" Ella asked.

"Alexa, Eva, and Elle were sent to a holding room, I think. Cathy and I went straight to testing. Over the next couple of weeks, we were mutated. Eva got x-ray vision, Cathy got cat DNA, and Alexa got octopus DNA. We were tested by fighting flyboys," Sam explained, a wicked grin on her face. "Unfortunately for the whitecoats, they were stupid enough to let us fight in a room with windows in the ceiling. Elle and I grabbed Eva and flew out, Cathy jumped with her super-cat skills, and I levitated Alexa out once we broke the window. We were on the run for a while, then Jeb found us."

"How did you escape from him?" Angel asked.

"We didn't. This was right after he and Dr. M kind of ran away from you guys. They split right away. Anyway, he took us in and, once you guys saved the world, let us help with the whole 'making records of your adventures' thing. Then we travelled here and that was that," Sam said.

"Wow, that was a lot of talking. Almost as much as I used to do," Nudge observed.

BOOM!

"Was that what I think that was?" Ella asked.

Angel nodded. "Let's go and see how they get out of this one."

Ella, Angel, and nudge ran out, leaving Sam in confusion. After a moment, she followed.

Earlier... 

Ari walked awkwardly with Iggy and Gazzy to their room.

"So, where can we put you?" Iggy said thoughtfully.

"I can just sleep on the floor," Ari said softly.

"Okay, but we'll have to get some pillows and blankets and stuff," Gazzy said.

"No, I don't want to be a bother," Ari said.

"It's not a bother. We've got a whole closet full of cushions and blankets and stuff," Iggy waved his hand casually.

Ari walked to the closet and started to open it but Gazzy jumped in front of him.

"That's not the right closet. The bed stuff is down the hall," Gazzy explained.

'"Then what's in this closet?" Ari asked.

Gazzy looked hesitantly at Iggy. "Wellll,"

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me," Ari said dejectedly.

"No, it's fine. Our closet has bomb supplies and stuff like that: wires, timers, bolts, peanuts," Iggy began.

"Why peanuts?" Ari asked.

"We use them to make nitroglycerine, the main ingredient in dynamite," Gazzy explained.

"I see," Ari said, still confused.

Iggy, realizing this, grinned. "How about we show you?"

Ari's eyes grew wide.

Back to the present…

The two groups of girls arrived at the crime scene at about the same time, ahead of everyone else. Amazingly, the door was still attached to the wall and closed, although that didn't keep the black smoke from drifting out.

"Oh, I get it. This is Iggy and Gazzy's room, isn't it?" Sam asked Angel.

The younger girl nodded. "And Max forbid them to make or use any more bombs inside. The whole 'Star Fire' incident caused that."

"The 'Star Fire' incident?" Elle asked.

"They were testing a little bomb and I walked into their room to grab Iggy so he could make dinner. The bomb exploded and my feet caught on fire. Luckily, only my shoes were hurt. So Max made a rule against bomb using or making indoors," Star said, overhearing the conversation.

"Speaking of Max," Ella said, pointing down the hall.

Said girl had a stormy look on her face as she led everyone else to the bomb spot. She walked up to the boys' door and yanked it open. The smoke billowed out, making everyone cough.

"Iggy! Gazzy!" Max said threateningly.

The looked up from a tiny explosive along with Ari. All three faces were covered in ashes and they looked like they hadn't taken a bath in the last year.

"What were you thinking? You could have been hurt, Ari could have been hurt, and I specifically said no more bombs indoor," Max said.

"We wanted to show Ari how the bombs work," Gazzy explained.

"Still. You know what, just, just go to bed. We can deal with this in the morning," Max said, exasperated. She turned around and walked away.

"Wow, we were lucky. Normally she at least makes us clean everything up first," Iggy noted.

"Okay, everyone. You heard Max. Nothing to see here, go to bed," Dr. Martinez ordered.

Grumbling, everyone obeyed.

"It's like this all the time, isn't it?" Sam asked.

"Yes it is," Ella said. "And that's how we like it."


	12. Ch 15, 16, 17, and a Nudgetype speech

AN: So, extremely delayed twelfth chapter. I am officially a zombie-author. Hey, probably time for a disclaimer. Let's see...

Disclaimer: JP owns the books, the book plot, the bold text, the characters in the bold text, the characters in the regular text other than my two OC's, and the title of being awesome enough to write the most wonderful (if a bit plot-holey) series ever. I own my OC Sam (Elle belongs to a friend) and the spaces between my original writing's words. Happy? XD

The next morning, Sam awoke to the smell of frying bacon, griddled pancakes, and orange juice. She hurried to the kitchen, where Iggy and Dr. Martinez were making breakfast and everyone else was talking and chowing down.

"I'm the last one up?" she asked, taking a seat at the table.

"Yep, as always," Elle said, smiling.

Sam good-naturedly rolled her eyes as everyone else laughed.

"Next batch of pancakes are ready," Dr. Martinez announced, sliding a tray of steaming pancakes onto the table.

Laughing and talking, breakfast went by quickly. When they were done, all at different times, a slow parade trickled into the living room.

Once everyone was there (and she had given Iggy and Gazzy long enough stares to assure herself that they had cleaned up from past night), Max picked up the book and asked "Who's turn is it to read?"

"I went last night, so it's Dylan's turn," Gazzy offered.

Max tossed the book over and Dylan cleared his throat.

**15 "Let's throw all their stuff into the canyon," Iggy said angrily, punching a door frame.**

"Let me guess, back to the Colorado house," Ella predicted.

**Having to listen to the rest of the flock leaving while he sat around being blind was more than he could stand. "I think even their beds would fit out the hall window."**

"Really?" Max asked, amused.

Iggy shrugged. "We were really ticked."

"Understandably," Gazzy muttered.

"I heard that, Gaz," Max hinted.

**The Gasman scowled. "I can't believe I have to stay home while they go off and save my own sister."**

**He kicked a worn red sneaker against the kitchen island. The house seemed empty and too quiet. He found himself listening for Angel's voice, waiting to hear her singing softly or talking to her stuffed animals. He swallowed hard. She was his sister. He was responsible for her.**

"Aww," Ratchet cooed.

Gazzy kicked him in the shin.

**An open bag of cereal lay on the counter, and he dug out a dry handful and ate it. Suddenly, he picked up the bag of cereal and hurled it at a wall. The bag split open, and Frootios sprayed everywhere.**

**"This sucks!" the Gasman shouted.**

**"Oh. did that just occur to you?" Iggy said sarcastically.**

"You're nice, Iggy. He just described everything bad that happened and you make fun of him for it?" Star asked incredously.

"You know, just because the book says it, doesn't mean it was said out loud," Iggy pointed out.

"It's called ' having a brain and realizing there's such a thing as giving someone a little slack'," Kate retorted, defending her friend.

Iggy held up his hands in surrender.

**"I guess you can't fool the Gasman. He might not look like the sharpest tool in the shed, but-"**

**"Shut up," said the Gasman, and Iggy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Look. This sucks so bad. Max left us here 'cause she thought we couldn't keep up."**

**Iggy's face stiffened.**

**"But was she thinking about what would happen if the Erasers came back here?" the Gasman asked. "Like, they got Angel not far from here-they saw all the rest of us. So they know we must be somewhere in the area. Why wouldn't they come back for us?"**

**"Huh," Iggy said thoughtfully. "Course, it would be hard to find this place, and even harder to get to it."**

**"Not if they have a chopper," the Gasman pointed out. "Which they do."**

**"Huh," said Iggy, and the Gasman felt proud that he had thought of all this before Iggy had, even though Iggy was older-as old as Max and Fang. Nearly ancient.**

"Gazzer," Iggy complained, tossing a nearby couch pillow at the younger boy.

Gazzy laughed and dodged the pillow by a bit, letting it whiz over his head. "Missed me, old man," he taunted.

Bonk bonk WHAP! Three pillows hit him in quick succession. Cue much laughter.

"Ig! You threw three more!" Gazzy accused, lifting the third and largest pillow from where it had landed (his face).

"I didn't do anything," Iggy said, shrugging.

Gazzy looked around. "Who?"

"Me," Star responded, raising her hand.

"This old lady," Max said, raising her hand as well.

"And..." Gazzy said expectantly.

Fang resignedly raised his hand.

"Fang?" Gazzy asked astonished.

"I'm not too old to chuck a pillow at you head," Fang replied casually.

"No, but, I wouldn't have thought," Gazzy trailed off, defeated. "Oh, just read."

**"Does that mean we have to sit here and take it?" the Gasman asked, pounding his fist on the counter. "No! We don't have to wait for the Erasers to come get us! We can do stuff! We can make plans. I mean, we're not useless, no matter what Max thinks."**

"C'mon, you know I don't think that," Max said.

Gazzy shrugged. "I know, I was mad."

"Mad crazy or mad angry?" Iggy asked innocently.

Ella elbowed him. It was worth it.

**"Right," said Iggy, nodding. He came to sit next to the Gasman at the counter, his feet crunching over dry cereal. "Yeah, I see what you mean. So to speak."**

**"I mean, we're smart! We're tough as nails! Max might not have thought about keeping the camp safe, but we did, and we can do it."**

**"Yeah, now you're talking. Uhhh . . . But how?"**

**"We could make traps! Do sabotage! Bombs!" The Gasman rubbed his hands together.**

**Iggy grinned. "Bombs are good. I love bombs.**

"Only you two," Max quipped, amused.

** Remember the one from last fall? I almost caused a avalanche."**

**"That was to make a trail through the woods. Okay. There was a reason for it. Max approved it." **

"You approved of them setting off a bomb? And you were in hiding?" Dr. M asked incredously.

Max shrugged. "It was a very important. We needed a clearing to take off from, and a trail to get there."

**The Gasman pawed through a hill of ancient newspapers, piles of junk, someone's old socks, a long-forgotten bowl that had once held some sort of food substance-oops-until he found a slightly oil-stained memo pad.**

**"Knew it was around here," he muttered, ripping off used sheets. A similar search revealed part of a pencil. "Now. We need a great plan. What are our objectives?"**

**Iggy groaned. "Oh, no-years of Max influence are taking their toll. You sound just like her. You're, like, a Maxlet. A Maxketeer. A . . . a . . ."**

"Is there something wrong with that?" Max asked innocently.

Iggy 'backtracked' quickly. "No, no, I love overly strict, sometimes extremely boring leaders and their followers."

"I'm rolling my eyes, Iggy," Max said.

**The Gasman frowned at Iggy and started writing. "Number one: Make firebombs-for our protection only. Number two: Blow up demonic Erasers when they return." He held the paper up and reread it, then smiled. "Oh, yeah. Now we're getting somewhere. This is for you, Angel!"**

Dylan closed the book and handed it to Maya, who looked at the first sentence and frowned.

**16 Angel knew she couldn't go on like this much longer.**

Angel dropped her head into her hands. 'It had to be another me chapter', she thought. **  
><strong>

**Her lungs had started burning bad an hour ago; she hadn't been able to feel her leg muscles for longer than that. But every time she stopped running, a sadistic whitecoat -Reilly- zapped her with a stick thing. It jolted electricity into her, making her yelp and jump.**

"They're letting him use a taser? A taser! On a little kid?" Dr. Martinez stormed.

"It's not as bad as some other things the whitecoats like doing. Would you rather they..." Nudge thought about what she was going to say for a second. "Actually, I'm not even going to mention anything else. Nope, I'm not going there. Not even a little."**  
><strong>

Dr. M fumed silently.

** She had four burn marks from it already, and they really, really hurt. What was worse was she could feel his eager anticipation-he wanted to hurt her.**

**Well, he could zap her a thousand million times, if he wanted. This was it-she couldn't go on.**

**It was a relief to let go. Angel saw the whole world narrow down to a little fuzzy tube in front of her, and then even that went gray. She sort of felt herself falling, felt her feet tangle in the treadmill belt. The zap came, once, twice, three times, but it felt distant, more an unpleasant stinging than real pain. Then Angel was lost, lost in a dream, and Max was there. Max was stroking her sweaty hair and crying.**

Max planted a kiss on Angel's head and rubbed her back. Angel sniffled and smiled a little.**  
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**Angel knew it was a dream because Max never cried. Max was the strongest person she knew. Not that she had known that many people.**

**Ripping sounds and a new, searing pain on her skin pulled Angel back. She blinked into white lights. Hospital lights, prison lights. She smelled that awful smell and almost retched.**

Max murmured softly to Angel, who was sobbing quietly.**  
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** Hands were pulling off all the electrodes taped to her skin, rip, rip, rip.**

**"Oh, my God, three and a half hours," Reilly was murmuring. "And its heart ****rate only increased by seventeen percent. And then at the end-it was only in the last, like, twenty minutes that its peak oxygen levels broke."**

"IT?" Kate exclaimed. Her creamy face began turning red in anger.

All around the room, almost all the faces matched. Red as tomatoes, they hated what the whitecoat was saying.

**It! Angel thought and wanted to scream. I'm not an it!**

**"I can't believe we've got a chance to study Subject Eleven. I've been wanting to dissect this recombinant ****for four years," another low voice said. "Interesting intelligence levels-I can't wait to get a brain sample."**

With that, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge and Fang all snapped. They stood up and marched out of the room.

"Where are they going?" Ella asked.**  
><strong>

"To get some anger out, hitting stuff, probably in the backyard. They'll be back in a minute," Max responded.

Silently, as if by some unspoken agreement, everyone but Angel, Max, and Ari left to do the same.

Ari approached Angel and Max and, looking a little lost, sat down on the floor next to Angel's chair.

" 'M sorry about everything. I know I said it before but, but I wanted you to know I really want you to forgive me. And I also wanted to see if you're okay," the young boy said softly, albeit a bit awkwardly.

Angel lifted her tear-streaked face from Max's arms and smiled warmly, then sat up. "And I really don't blame you," she told him honestly.

Ari grinned shyly, then went back to his chair.

Those three left in the room just smiled at each other for a few minutes before everyone else came straggling in, a little sweaty from punching trees and running around to work off their anger. Dr. M was rubbing her left hand and wincing, but looking a bit more content all the same.

Max noticed. "What'd you do, Mom?"

"She hauled off and hit a tree. She even made a dent," Holden said admiringly.

"Like moher, like daughter," Dylan pointed out, grinning.

"Shut up," Ella and Max said in unison.

"Wait, when did you hit a tree?" Max asked.

"About a minute ago," Maya supplied, laughing. She picked up the book and, after waiting a second for everyone to get settled and as ready as they could be to read more, she began.

**Angel felt their admiration, their crummy pleasure. They liked all the things wrong with her, all the ways she wasn't normal. And all those stupid long words added up to one thing: Angel was an experiment. To the whitecoats, she was a piece of science equipment, like a test tube. She was an it.**

**Someone put a straw into her mouth. Water. She started swallowing quick-she was so thirsty, like she'd been eating sand. Then another whitecoat scooped her up. She was too tired to fight.**

**I have to think of how to get out of here, she reminded herself, but thoughts were really hard to string together right now.**

**Someone opened the door of her dog crate and flopped her inside. Angel lay where she fell-at least she was lying down. She just had to sleep for a while. Then she would try to escape. Wearily, she blinked and saw the fish boy staring at her. The other boy was gone. Poor little guy had been gone this morning, hadn't come back. Might not.**

**Not me, Angel thought. I'm gonna fight. Right. . . after. . .I. . . rest.**

Maya, along with everyone else, breathed a sigh of relief as she passed the book to Elle. Elle looked down at the chapter and happily began to read.**  
><strong>

**17 "Unhhh. . ."**

**This bed was horrible! What was wrong with my bed?  
><strong>

"What?" Gazzy asked.

Elle repeated herself then continued on, happy to leave everyone in a state of severe confusion.

**Irritated, I punched my pillow into a better shape, then started sneezing hysterically as clouds of dust sailed up my nose.**

Holden raised his hand. "What in the world is going on?" **  
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**"Wah, ah, ah, choo!" I grabbed my nose in an attempt to keep some of my brains inside my head, but the sudden movement caused me to lose my balance, and with no warning I fell hard to the floor. Crash!**

**"Ouch! Son of a-" I scrambled to get up. My hands hit rough upholstery and the edge of a table. Okay, now I was lost. **

"Like the rest of us," Ella muttered.**  
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**Prying open my bleary eyes, I peered around. "What the . . ."**

**Where was I? I looked around wildly. I was in a. . . cabin. A cabin! Ohhh. A cabin. Right, right.**

"Ohh," was the general consensus.**  
><strong>

**It was oh-dark-thirty-not yet dawn.**

**I leaped to my feet, scanned the room, and saw nothing to be alarmed about. Except for the fact that obviously, Fang, Nudge, and I had just wasted precious hours sleeping!**

"Oh crud," was the new response.**  
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**I hurried over to Nudge, who was sprawled across a recliner. "Nudge! Nudge! Wake up! Oh, man . . ."**

**I turned to Fang, to find him swinging his feet over the edge of a couch. He sneezed and shook his head.**

**"What time is it?" he asked calmly.**

**"Almost morning!" I said, terribly upset. "Of the next day!"**

**He was already moving toward the kitchen cupboards. He'd found an ancient, stained backpack in a closet, and now he methodically started to fill it with cans of tuna, sealed bags of crackers, zip-locked bags of trail mix.**

"Good going Fang! You need food," Ella cheered, giggling.**  
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**"Wha's happ'nin'?" Nudge asked, blinking groggily.**

**"We fell asleep!" I told her, grabbing her hands and pulling her upright. "Come on! We've gotta go!"**

**Dropping to all fours, I raked my shoes out from under the couch and blew dust bunnies off them. "Fang, you can't carry all that," I said. "It'll weigh you down. Nothing's heavier than cans."**

**Fang shrugged and pulled the backpack on. Stubborn kind of fella. **

"What gave you that impression?" Fang said in his calm-yet-snarky way.**  
><strong>

Max stuck out her tongue at him.

**He moved soundlessly across the room and slipped through the window like a shadow.**

**Now I was jamming Nudge's shoes onto her feet, rubbing her back, trying to wake her up. Nudge was always a reaaallly slow waker. Usually I appreciated the lack of word-spew,**

"Word-spew?" Nudge repeated, offended.

"Yeah, word-spew, like this," Iggy said, standing up and striking a model pose. Then, taking on a super-speed-up, million-cups-of-coffee screechy-high voice, he began talking. (try reading this all in one shot) "Ohmigoosh, we slept all night! We have to get going, we have to eat and dress and wash up and get going, or normally we would at least but since we''re on a mission maybe we should just go, or are my clothes too rumpled, of course they are, we slept in an abandoned cabin, did we bring any changes of clothes, anything with glitter on it, or how about sequins, I love sequins, I hope you brought my sequin-n-glitter dress, but that'll be hard to wear since we're flying, unless you also brought some pretty matching shorts along, did you bring any pretty matching sports, ooo how about the butterflies and rainbows ones, they're extremely awesomely sparkly, but not the bad sparkly like the stuff that falls off your clothes and gets everywhere and causes the oven to explode like it did nearly that one time, remember when I almost made the oven explode because all the bad sparkles where falling off my shirt and the sparkles got caught in some vent and clogged it up and then we all had to fly away screaming because we didn't want to get blown up and I told you guys that it was gonna blow up, but really I just thought it was and then Jeb wouldn't let me wear that shirt anymore and he gave me a super-duper-ooper long long long talk about spreading panic and not panicking in accidents, do you think that if I make you guys all panic that you'd believe me now since that didn't turn out so well, and also because of other times I panicked and freaked everybody out, like, how about the time that Max set a bowl of ice cream on fire 'cause she put it in the microwave instead of the freezer and I ran through the house screaming "Dead, dead, it's dead, we're all gonna die, death in the kitchen" and everybody panicked because they thought I was talking about one of us but I was really talking about the ice cream, speaking of ice cream, which I love, like in that poemy-songy-thingamabob 'I scream you scream', I like those kinds of funny silly poem-type stuff, back to the ice cream subject, can we go out to that new ice cream place after lunch, Ella said that the place was as big as a small country, how big do you think the smallest country is, which one is it, I think it's Hawaii, wait I think that's a state, what's the difference between a state and a country, hey that sounded kind of like the title of a funny book, do you think anyone's written that yet, maybe the same person who wrote,"**  
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"IGGY!" Nudge screamed.

Iggy froze.

"Shut. Up. And sit. Down. And stop. Being. Stupid," Nudge ground out.

Iggy quickly did that.

Nudge leaned back in her chair, satisfied. She waved a hand at Elle, who, along with everyone else, was still shocked at Iggy's pitch-perfect performance (although none of them would ever tell that to Nudge).

Elle slowly put her eyes back to the paper and cautiously began again.

** which would begin when she was fully functioning, but right now we needed to move, move, move!**

**I practically threw Nudge through the window, slithered out myself, then propped the screen back in place as best I could.**

**A quick run down a country road and we were off, stroking hard, pushing to get airborne.**

**Sorry, Angel. Sorry, sorry, sorry, my baby.**

Angel hugged Max in a 'I forgive you way'. MAx hugged her back.

"Can I read now?" Sam asked impatiently.**  
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AN: if you have any ideas for a image cover for this, please review and let me know. Or review if you have no ideas. Or if you have some but don't want to share. Or if you like waffles. Or if you like pancakes. Or... You know what? Just review.**  
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	13. So long

Thank you guys for all your support and opinons on this story. I've decide to put it on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time. I loved writing this, and maybe I'll continue it again someday, but I don't have the conviction or want to keep it up.

Again, thanks for everything. See ya!

Sam


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